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Protecting Burlington's Trees ... PDF Print E-mail

After participating in stakeholder workshops and offering input to the development of a proposed Urban Forest Management Plan by the City of Burlington, BurlingtonGreen presented to the Mayor and members of Council at their Community Services Committee meeting on June 23, 2010. To read our presentation, click here. We encourage you to review the UFMP document on the city website.

"The purpose of the Plan is to increase urban forest management effectiveness and efficiency, improve tree health and diversity, minimize risks to the pubic, and maximize the benefits provided by a healthy and sustainable urban forest.

The Draft Plan includes a vision and identifies opportunities on both public and private lands, in urban and rural Burlington focusing on five key areas: (1) Management and Implementation, (2) Community Engagement and Stewardship, (3) Protection and Preservation, (4) Replenishment and Enhancement, and (5) Tree Health and Risk Management. Recommendations for each of these areas have been developed and assigned priorities within the Plan’s 20-year framework, with many targeted for completion during the first five-year period." (City of Burlington)

BurlingtonGreen believes it should be a priority for the City to take action on a tree protection bylaw sooner rather than later. Pressures for development intensification in Burlington are happening NOW, thus a policy to protect trees is required before it is too late and more trees (that give us so much) are gone.

We asked the City back in 2010 to answer these questions so we could share the responses with you:

How are trees on private properties currently being protected in Burlington?

Monday, 08 November 2010, Rick Lipsitt (City Forester):

Trees in woodlots of over one hectare fall under Halton Region’s Tree By-law 121-05. This by-law is a tool to prevent the clear-cutting of woodlands and regulates the destruction of trees by requiring good forestry practices during tree harvesting activities. http://www.halton.ca/common/pages/UserFile.aspx?fileId=18412

Through the city’s development process guidelines, private trees are considered for preservation and preservation plans are requested.

Boundary trees are protected under the Forestry Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F. 26

City trees are protected under tree by-law 19-1975

Does the city have plans to introduce a private tree by-law?

Under the recently Council-approved Urban Forest Management Plan, Recommendation 21 is for the city to study and evaluate the effectiveness of private tree by laws in other communities, the appropriateness of a by-law for Burlington, and potential resource implications. Work on this initiative is expected to commence about a year prior to its scheduled completion in 2016.

What do YOU think? Let us know by submitting your brief comments below. Please refrain from including individuals names. Note: BurlingtonGreen will review all incoming comments before posting. Identiified names or offensive statements will not be posted. Thank you very much for sharing your valued input.

Comments   

 
0 #5 Harold D. 2011-11-14 13:07
The idea of a tree protection by law may be a good idea, but such a law must be
set up in a way that it does not hinder the development of a more healthy
environment. Tree cutting by laws have a strong possibility of “Backfiring”!
Maintaining a wood lot of any size, nurturing high quality trees and habitat may
be accomplished with varying levels of input and financial commitment depending
on the current state of the site and trees located there. For example, overly
dense bush will stunt tree development, making trees more vulnerable to insect
and disease damage. Thinning invasive, competing, stunted, and or sick trees may
be required, meaning a land owner MUST be able to cut trees with a vision towards
a productive wood lot, both in terms of wild life habitat and forest products.
Other areas may need new planting of seedlings. All these efforts take financial
input. It is the removal of thinned trees in the form of firewood and lumber
that pay for the effort of woodlot improvement – counterintuitiv e to the idea of
“Not cutting trees”.
Owners can generate a Wood Lot Management Plan, but such a plan should not become
a prerequisite to small-scale activity, since the cost of generating a plan can
also be prohibitive, thus stifling positive activity.
Of equal importance is the need to stop the advance of invasive and non-native
trees and plants. These trees (such as Norway Maple, Buck Thorn, Chinese Tree of
Heaven, White Mulberry, to name a few) need to be ruthlessly removed – cut down,
while their sales in garden centers be made illegal in counties where they are a
problem. It is no longer “Acceptable or OK” to collect and plant plants that do
not belong. We are not the British of two hundred years ago. Doing your part
for the environment not only means the 3 R’s, driving a fuel-efficient car, etc.
but also being cognoscente of the effects of the plants we release on the
environment. “Planting a tree” as the Green movements slogan goes, is in fact
NOT necessarily “good for the environment”. We must be selective in choosing
which trees to plant, normally meaning Native trees only.
To prevent people form cutting trees is a shortsighted ill informed response from
Armchair Environmentalis ts. A tree cutting by law must be nuanced, actually
encouraging the selective and correct cutting of trees. I have planted lots of
native trees since I am one of the biggest tree huggers around, and I also cut
trees down.
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0 #4 Michelle 2011-11-12 15:29
It is very frustrating to know that there is such discrepancy in people's attitudes about the valuation of trees across this city. Developers prioritize the ease of construction and increasing the density of units over respecting our natural heritage, the air purifying benefits of mature trees and provision of ample green space. I'm disappointed to learn that the last Council approved waiting until 2015-16 for city staff to even begin working on a private tree by-law. I suggest folks who are not satisfied by this begin writing the current City Council to tell them so. Intensification development must be balanced with truely livable communities that preserve our natural heritage and provide green space.
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0 #3 Diana Levey 2011-11-12 10:56
In April 2011 all trees, including mature boundary trees, were cut on 5054 New Street to prepare for a new development
On her return from holiday, when my friend at 5030 New Street complained to the City, she was told that
because she wasn't an adjacent property owner (she has a parking area inbetween) she had no recourse. She never received any prior notification even though the boundary trees served as an effective noise and visual buffer from Appleby Mall.
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0 #2 Godfrey Owen 2011-11-12 10:45
I strongly support protection of trees of value to the City and for combatting Carbon Dioxide.
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0 #1 Kevin Rahmer 2011-11-12 05:41
I wrote to Councilor Dennison about 5 years ago, to try and have a Tree Cutting By-Law introduced in Burlington, similar to Kitchener's or Toronto's By-Laws which are based on the tree's circumfrance... .. Recently on an in-fill build across the street from me on Belvenia Rd, the new owner cut down 6 trees, of which a pair of trees along the fence line, were over 100 ft heigh and over 125 years old. The new owner is in her late 60's, and would never outlast the life of these trees. The transient nature of humans kills these trees. The neighborhood has suffered from this clear cutting. Enact a Tree Cutting By-Law in Burlington against clear cutting on any of these in-fills and protect the integrity of our older neighborhoods. I support Tree Protection, long live our trees.
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