2019 - City of Pasadena - California · 2019. 11. 18. · Removal 8% General 7% Planting 4% Restake 3% Bee Problems 2% The Department received 4,743 Citizen Service Center requests

2019

The Department of Public Works Parksand Natural Resources Division wouldlike to thank the followingdepartments, organizations andindividuals for their continuedsupport for the City's urban forest. Office of the Mayor & City Council Terry Tornek, Mayor Tyron Hampton, District 1 Margaret McAustin, District 2 John J. Kennedy, District 3Gene Masuda, District 4Victor M. Gordo, District 5Steve Madison, District 6Andy Wilson, District 7 City Manager's OfficeSteve Mermell, City ManagerJulie A. Gutierrez, Assistant CityManager Nicholas G. Rodriguez, Assistant CityManager Maintenance Assistance and Services to Homeowners (MASH)Urban Forestry Advisory CommitteeDesign Commission Municipal Services Committee California Natural Resources AgencyPasadena Beautiful Foundation

1 - 2019 STATE OF THE URBAN FOREST

Acknowledgements

During the 2019 fiscal year, the City of Pasadena was awarded a 29th-year Tree City USA designation, and an18th-year Tree City USA Growth award by the Arbor Day Foundation. Both awards are benchmarks forcommunities to assess how their local agencies are managing their urban forest. The Tree City USA designationrequires a community to adopt the following standards - recognition of a tree board or department; adoption ofa public tree ordinance; dedicated annual budget of a minimum of $2 per capita; and the observance andproclamation of Arbor Day. The Tree City USA Growth award is more selective, and requires the community todemonstrate annual improvements and an increased commitment to their urban forestry program. The Department of Public Works is pleased to share the urban forestry highlights and statistics of the 2019 fiscalyear through this report. In the 2019 fiscal year, the Department made improvements to the City's treeprotection standards; published new public resources on the City's website; began habitat restoration work inthe Hahamongna Watershed Park area; and partnered with Davey Tree Resources Group to assess the ficustrees along Green Street in Old Town Pasadena.

Introduction

2019 STATE OF THE URBAN FOREST- 2

"...people who live in communities that are walkable, have access to

bike trails, and are near parks and green space have higher levels of

health than those in communities lacking those amenities."

Designing Healthy Communities

Dr. Richard Jackson, UCLA Environmental Health Sciences

STREET TREE NUMBERS FOR FY 19

a year's overview

Trees Pruned

Service Requests

Emergency Calls

Trees Planted

Total Trees Removed

4,743

634

571

14,976Hardwood and Palm Trees

919

During the 2019 fiscal year, the City of Pasadenaremoved 549 street trees due to their condition.Potentially hazardous trees are identified by theDepartment from routine inspections and throughservice requests received through the Citizen ServiceCenter. When a public tree is processed for removal,a City arborist will note if the adverse condition of the tree can be attributed to the following removalcategories: Pest Infestation: presence of pest identified in areasof wood based on industry standard. Drought Stress: poor annual precipitation; symptoms may include discolored, wilted anddefoliated tree canopy.

Street Tree Removals

2019 STATE OF THE URBAN FOREST - 4

Site Problems: characteristics of planting site thatmay include overcrowding by adjacent trees orlandscaping; and poor soil drainage. Root Damage: aggressive root pruning or soilcompaction. Mechanical or Tear Injury: injuries attributed tovehicle and landscaping (mechanical) equipment; andirreparable limb or leader failure (tear) sometimesattributed to weather. Poor Performing Species: tree species found to behighly susceptible to drought, breakage, or otherwiseunsuitable for the local environment, and Departmentis no longer planting. Multiple Factors: single factor could not be identifiedas the cause for removal.

Drought39%

Multiple 25%

Mechanical 14%

Poor Performing 10%

Root8%

Pest2%

Site 2%

FY 19 Removal Categories

5- 2019 STATE OF THE URBAN FOREST

Street Tree Removals

17 18 19 17 18 19 17 18 19 17 18 19 17 18 19 17 18 19 17 18 19

250

200

150

100

50

0

13 8

139

88

139

194

4959

42 38

57

100 100

58

11

216

136

11

42

75

58

Pest Drought Multiple Site Root Mechcanical Poor

Drought-related stress is the largest factor adverselyimpacting the City's urban forest in recent years. Street trees are irrigated by the Department for threeyears, whereafter, the trees rely on natural precipitationfor water. This three-year period of dedicated irrigationis called the establishment period, and is a commonpractice among other urban forests. The Cityencourages residents to provide supplemental wateringto newly planted trees if they have the capacity to do so.

periods of high temperatures, staff has observed leaf scorch (burn) in trees which further stresses the health of thetree. Additionally, it's important to redirect irrigation (such as rotor sprinklers) away from the trunk of the tree. Trees do not absorb water through the trunk, and moreover, excessive watering on the trunk can promote fungusand rot development.

The Department provides informationabout proper watering practices andparkway landscape maintenance. Treesshould be irrigated every five to sevendays, and more frequently during periodsof high temperatures. During continued



Street Tree Plantings


During the 2019 fiscal year, the City planted 634 new street trees. Pasadena BeautifulFoundation assisted the City in this effort by coordinating tree plantings with the OldPasadena Management District; Playhouse District; and through individual residents.Additionally, the City also partnered with Amigos de los Rios to plant trees in the north westarea of the City. Amigos de los Rios' mission is to implement greenspace projects such asparks, trails and urban forestry in under-served areas of Los Angeles County through localpartnerships and organized volunteers.

Trees Planted by Amigos de LosRios in North West Area


Citizen Service Requests

Pruning20%

Palm Fronds19%

Emergencies19%

Fallen Branches18%

Removal8%

General7%

Planting4%

Restake3%

Bee Problems2%

The Department received 4,743Citizen Service Center requestsin FY 2019, an approximate 60%increase in requests comparedto FY 2018. Service requestspeaked between October,January and April. The uptick inrequests observed during thesemonths may be attributed toinclement weather. While theDepartment continually strivesto provide service in a timelymanner, it's important to notethat in times of inclementweather such as rain, wind andperiods of high temperatures,some service requests may bedelayed. During periods ofinclement weather, theDepartment prioritizesemergency-related services.

18 - JUL 18 - AUG 18- SEP 18 - OCT 18 - NOV 18 - DEC 19 - JAN 19 - FEB 19 - MAR 19 - APR 19 - MAY 19 - JUN

750

500

250

0

446

351311

633

249 266

542

294263

636

384 368

FY 19 Service Requests Receieved

The Department worked with the CityAttorney's Office and the Department ofPlanning and Community Developmentto update the City's Tree ProtectionGuidelines in order to reflect the effortsof the previous fiscal year, such as theamendment to the City's Tree ProtectionOrdinance and the adoption of a fencingand protection zone standard. TheGuidelines are publicly available, and areintended to mitigate the impacts to bothpublic and private trees within aconstruction project. In FY 19, theDepartment enhanced the fencing andtree protection zone standard that wasfirst adopted in FY 18. Theenhancements to the tree protectionstandard includes an extension of thetree protection zone to 4' past the tree'sdripline, compared to the original treeprotection zone defined as the extent ofthe dripline only; the increase of theprotective fencing to 6' high, comparedto 4' previously; and the requirement toadd top rails and tension rods to thefencing standard for additional support. Additionally, the Department alsocollected over $300,000 during FY 19 insecurity deposits as another measure toprotect public trees from being adverselyimpacted during the course ofconstruction. Security deposits thatwere retained because the tree wasirreparably damaged will be used toreplant trees in the City.

Program Achievements


Tree Protection Guidelines

Standard Drawing S-642


Program AchievementsFicus Tree Study

In response to the ficus tree community meeting held by the City on July 25, 2018, the Department awarded a contract toDavey Resource Group to provide an assessment of the ficus trees along Green Street. While the majority of thecommunity members who attended the meeting expressed desire to retain ficus tree as the designated tree species alongGreen Street, there were valid concerns raised about the long-term sustainability about the tree species, specifically, theappropriateness of the species relative to the dense urban environment along Green Street. Additionally, communitymembers expressed concern about ficus canker (botryosphaeria) disease, a fungal pathogen that's impacting ficus treesthroughout Los Angeles County. Davey Resource Group was assigned to provide a ground-level conditional assessment ofthe ficus trees along Green Street; gather and test lab samples of wood tissue; and provide short-term and long-termrecommendations to improve the health of the existing trees and management practices for new tree plantings that mayhelp mitigate the concerns raised during the meeting. Staff from Davey Resource Group worked with Forestry staff togather the wood tissue samples and idenitfy trees that were in poor or hazardous condition to be processed for removal.The picture above on the bottom right corner shows a cross section of wood that was suspected to be infected with thecanker pathogen. The tissue on the left of the cross section is healthy wood; and the tissue on the right that's discoloredis dead tissue suspected to be a result of the ficus canker. The full Davey Resource Group study will be publicly availablein FY 20. The Department will also begin implementing the recommendations of the study in FY 20.

Program Achievements


Hahamongna Watershed Park Habitat Restoration Project

The Department began work on the Hahamongna Watershed Park HabitatRestoration project in FY 19. The Habitat Restoration project is part of theadopted Arroyo Seco Master Plan and the City-wide Capital ImprovementProgram. The project will improve the ecology of the Hahamongna WatershedPark area by removing non-native and exotic plant species in order to restorethe oak woodland and riparian habitats that were natural to the area. Theproject was implemented between City staff and a team of restorationbiologists and ecologists from the consulting firm, Psomas. Additionally, theArroyo Seco Foundation and the Hahamongna Native Plant Nursery collectedthe seeds and cuttings used for plant propagation for this project. The preparedrestoration plan and specifications are the most detailed and ecologicallysensitive set of plans prepared for any restoration project in the Arroyo Secoarea. The project planted approximately 1,500 native plants including 180native trees. The plant specimens vary in size between seedlings to boxedcontainers. A picture of an oak cutting grown in an enclosure to protect it fromwild life is pictured below (bottom right corner). Another component of the OakGrove Area Improvements - Berkshire Creek Restoration project - is expected tobe underway in FY 20.


Program AchievementsMaster Street Tree Plan Web Search Tool The Department launched the Master Street Tree Plan (MSTP) map tool in FY 19 after developing the tool with theDepartment of Information technology for over a year. The map tool will allow the user to find the designated treespecies for any address or street segment throughout the City. Staff reviewed records and previous printed versions ofthe MSTP in order to ensure accuracy of all currently designated tree species. The Department of Information Technologywas able to transfer and geocode approximately 60% of the MSTP worksheet records to a GIS layer; the remaining speciesand street records were then manually added to the map by staff. The tool is available on the Department's Parks andNatural Resources Division's website. The Department will continue working on enhancing the MSTP tool to provideanalytical features for users in FY 20.

Users can click on the blue line of the

street segment which opens the separate

window that displays the designated tree

species and year of adoption

MSTP tool available at:

cityofpasadena.net/public-works/parks-and-natural-resources


Users can search

for a specific

address through

the search

widget; or by

simply panning

and moving

around the map

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The second best time is now." - Old Proverb

Photo top left: Forestry staff andPasadena Fire Department tree removaltraining excercise; Photo top right: new boxed oak treeplanting within Hahamongna WatershedPark Habitat Restoration project area

Documents

2019 - City of Pasadena - California · 2019. 11. 18. · Removal 8% General 7% Planting 4% Restake 3% Bee Problems 2% The Department received 4,743 Citizen Service Center requests