Grassroots effort to save Sacramento’s elm trees enlists ‘community scientists’
The Sacramento Tree Foundation is enlisting “community scientists” to help protect some of the largest and most historic trees in the “City of Trees.”
Elm trees offer shade and other health benefits, but are threatened by the fatal Dutch elm disease, a fungal infection that quickly spreads by bugs or through roots. With its Save the Elms program, the foundation trains neighbors to watch out for signs of the disease, then report any concerns using an app.
“It’s as simple as taking a walk down the street and taking a look at the trees around you to see if there’s any visible symptoms, and then submitting a simple form on your phone,” said Sacramento Tree Foundation Communications and Engagement Manager Stephanie Robinson.
Planted around the turn of the century, various elm species help define the Sacramento tree canopy. In some locations, elms tower over other trees with branches reaching more than 100 feet in the air.
“But in 1990, Dutch elm disease made its way to Sacramento,” Robinson said. “The leaves, they first wilt and curl, they have a droop to them, they turn yellow and eventually die.”
Robinson said there were once more than 25,000 elms in the city. Today, there are fewer than 2,000, many of the elms are dying of old age, removed for development or killed off by Dutch elm disease.
Although there are a number of expensive treatments, there is no cure. The only realistic solution to stop the spread of the disease is to cut down infected trees.
“We’re like, according to our training, these trees don’t look good,” said volunteer Chris Smith, who identified several diseased elm trees near Marshall School in Midtown Sacramento.
More Tree Service News
How Can Tree Service Change Your Life?
Have you ever thought about what you would do without the tree services for trimming and pruning during spring? Your backyard trees would be a mess, and you wouldn’t even be able to sit in there and call your friends for a coffee. That’s why tree services are so valued, especially in rural areas where more trees are present at home.
Let’s now see the benefits of having a tree service for your trees and getting some expert arborists to give you precise advice on what to do for them. We know it’s hard and expensive to plant new trees, so taking care of the existing ones may be an affordable and plausible scenario.
Oregon hires independent expert to review controversial hazard tree removal program
Rick Till, an arborist from Portland, examining some of the trees cut down in Gates as part of the state’s post-wildfire hazard tree removal program. Till testified in an earlier hearing that he thought the state program was overcutting trees.
State officials announced Monday they had hired an independent forestry consultant to perform a hasty review of their controversial hazard tree removal program in response to allegations of overcutting and mismanagement.
The Washington-based consultant, Galen Wright, is expected to spend this week visiting fire-damaged swaths of Oregon and deliver his assessment, including any recommendations, by early June.
The scope of the $48,358 contract includes reviewing arborist qualifications and the criteria used to identify hazardous trees as well as a field review in three different fire corridors to “assess the compliance of hazard tree identification.” But the contract also makes clear Wright is not being paid to make decisions about specific trees, leaving critics concerned about the thoroughness of the review.
So far the state has marked about 77,000 of 140,000 trees it currently estimates it will need to cut down and remove as a result of nine large wildfires last year, most of which ignited Labor Day. Mac Lynde, a deputy administrator at the Oregon Department of Transportation, told lawmakers Monday that the project was about a quarter complete, with about 34,000 trees removed to date, and is expected to stretch late into the fall.
Heavy rain, saturated soil impacts trees
Heaving can cause a tree to become unbalanced and lean, strong winds can make the problem worse.
Fallen trees and limbs can be spotted across East Texas as April showers held off for May thunderstorms.
Traci Bailey owner of Bailey’s Lawn and Tree Service said East Texas trees are facing a tough year already after a hot and cold February with temperatures in the 70s and then Winter Storm Uri, which is why so many are coming down.
“A lot of trees are kind of dead, some are not really growing back,” he said. “So I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people, mostly for pine trees and oak trees.”
When soil becomes saturated with rainwater, it becomes easier for strong winds to topple trees over. Bailey said it doesn’t take much rain though and that many times, there’s an underlying issue.
“It mostly comes from the root,” said Bailey. “Most of the time the roots are damaged and then when it rains, a lot of it saturates the soil and prevents oxygen from getting into the ground.”
Signs to look for in a tree before a storm include fungi at the base, dead limbs and soil heaving. Heaving can cause a tree to become unbalanced and lean, strong winds can make the problem worse.
“If it’s leaning and you think there’s a chance of it falling, you probably should get rid of it,” he said. “It’s cheaper to get rid of the tree, than trying to save it.”
