Re: Somerville Ave Park Project Removing Mature Trees??

[A. T.]

They’re Callery pears, horribly invasive and not contributing positively to the ecosystem. My guess is they will be replaced with a more appropriate native specie. 

Anton

Sent from my iPhone. Excuse brevity and errors. 

On May 3, 2024, at 11:43 AM, MELISSA MCWHINNEY <mmcwh...@comcast.net> wrote:



It's annoying that they're Callery Pears, which are invasive and not native.  Also annoying is the fact that the hearings are scheduled for mid-day when many people are at work.  Other kinds of public hearings are scheduled in the evening, so that the public can attend.  

 

And yes, why must these be removed?  Are they simply "in the way", and in the way of what?  Is this progress?

 

Melissa

Melissa McWhinney, J.D.

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On 05/03/2024 11:31 AM EDT Kate Lila Wheeler <lila...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

Agreed; the summer will be horrible without them. Can they do it in phases

On Fri, May 3, 2024, 11:27 Philip Ballentine <pbal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Why would they do this? This is ridiculous - these are some of the few mature trees in the area. Why do these beautiful flowering trees outside of the park need to be “replaced”?? There is no mention of a health issue. 

 

@Ben can we do something about this?

 

<image_67236353.JPG>

 

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[Renee Scott]

Bradford pears should be removed when possible, and replaced. So anyone with any capacity should push for replacement. 

Renée

On Fri, May 3, 2024 at 11:43 AM MELISSA MCWHINNEY <mmcwh...@comcast.net> wrote:

It's annoying that they're Callery Pears, which are invasive and not native.  Also annoying is the fact that the hearings are scheduled for mid-day when many people are at work.  Other kinds of public hearings are scheduled in the evening, so that the public can attend.  

 

And yes, why must these be removed?  Are they simply "in the way", and in the way of what?  Is this progress?

 

Melissa

Melissa McWhinney, J.D.

(she/her)

mmcwh...@comcast.net

617-605-9971

On 05/03/2024 11:31 AM EDT Kate Lila Wheeler <lila...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

Agreed; the summer will be horrible without them. Can they do it in phases

On Fri, May 3, 2024, 11:27 Philip Ballentine <pbal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Why would they do this? This is ridiculous - these are some of the few mature trees in the area. Why do these beautiful flowering trees outside of the park need to be “replaced”?? There is no mention of a health issue. 

 

@Ben can we do something about this?

 

 

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[Renee Scott]

Sorry, meant Callary. But same recommendations!

[A. T.]

Yes, this is a problem with our city. We invest in new trees and the jabot to plant them, but then ignore them and don’t provide the necessary  care for them to establish. 

And the DPW has killed trees by hitting them with their sidewalk plows, effectively girdling them. Just look at the two trees in front of the Cummins School lot. Both destroyed by DPW workers within two years of their planting. I watched it happen. 

The city needs to educate its employees and employ best practices for tree survival. 

Anton

Sent from my iPhone. Excuse brevity and errors. 

On May 3, 2024, at 12:00 PM, Philip Ballentine <pbal...@gmail.com> wrote:



I might feel the same if the replacements were not like the new trees on my street which provide no shade and died within a year and now are empty plots. 

On Fri, May 3, 2024 at 11:56 AM Renee Scott <renee...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry, meant Callary. But same recommendations!

On Fri, May 3, 2024 at 11:55 AM Renee Scott <renee...@gmail.com> wrote:

Bradford pears should be removed when possible, and replaced. So anyone with any capacity should push for replacement. 

Renée

On Fri, May 3, 2024 at 11:43 AM MELISSA MCWHINNEY <mmcwh...@comcast.net> wrote:

It's annoying that they're Callery Pears, which are invasive and not native.  Also annoying is the fact that the hearings are scheduled for mid-day when many people are at work.  Other kinds of public hearings are scheduled in the evening, so that the public can attend.  

 

And yes, why must these be removed?  Are they simply "in the way", and in the way of what?  Is this progress?

 

Melissa

Melissa McWhinney, J.D.

(she/her)

mmcwh...@comcast.net

617-605-9971

On 05/03/2024 11:31 AM EDT Kate Lila Wheeler <lila...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

Agreed; the summer will be horrible without them. Can they do it in phases

On Fri, May 3, 2024, 11:27 Philip Ballentine <pbal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Why would they do this? This is ridiculous - these are some of the few mature trees in the area. Why do these beautiful flowering trees outside of the park need to be “replaced”?? There is no mention of a health issue. 

 

@Ben can we do something about this?

 

<image_67236353.JPG>

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[Renee Scott]

Hi Sam,

The articles Vika and Jennifer shared explain it well but the long and short of it is, Callery Pears are invasive so they spread like crazy and displace other species. Our natural areas are becoming overwhelmed by invasive species and the problem grows all the time because we cannot keep up with it. For example, every black swallow wort pod that isn't removed opens up to release hundreds of seeds that become airborne. Wherever they land, they have a good chance of sprouting into a new vine that has dozens of pods of its own, thus exponentially exacerbating the problem.

Green & Open Somerville and EarthWise Aware have been advocating for the city to create a staff position to address this problem, both on city property but also supporting residents to identify and remove invasives plants on private property. As many of you know from participating, we organize (really fun!) invasive weed pulling parties but it is not making an impact on the invasives load, because, by definition, these species grow so easily and we just cannot keep up (and, each invasive has its own way it should be removed to not make the problem worse!). We need help. 

I absolutely hear the argument about shade and losing big trees. I think this transition away from invasive species needs to be done thoughtfully. The city arborist, Vanessa Boukili, is adding a lot more trees planted every season, which will help. I agree, we do not want to clear cut all non-native trees at once, but anytime we can remove one and replace it with a native tree, we are doing the ecosystem, and ourselves, a big favor.

Warmly,

Renée

On Fri, May 3, 2024 at 12:15 PM Sam Engelstad <senge...@mac.com> wrote:

Hi Renee,

Can you explain your reasons why Bradford Pears should be removed? Because they are not indigenous?

Sam

Sent from my iPhone

On May 3, 2024, at 12:00, Vika Zafrin <vi...@wordsend.org> wrote:



I became curious as to why Callery pears are bad, I'd never heard that before. Found this illuminating:

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/once-a-landscapers-favorite-many-states-are-now-banning-the-callery-pear/4156479/#:~:text=The%20Callery%20pear%20tree's%20pretty,popular%20street%20tree%20became%20untenable.

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[Philip Parsons]

Did anyone also share this link?

 https://arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-ornamental-callery-pear-tree/#:~:text=These%20and%20other%20Callery%20pear,of%20very%20difficult%20growing%20conditions.

Philip Parsons

20 Bonner Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143

cell 617-852-3381

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[Wig Zamore]

Thanks Renée for a very thoughtful response.  And Philip for the Arboretum comment / link !!!

Just piggy backing here on this thread with a slightly different issue that I bring up from time to time.

I was always inspired by larger tree planting efforts like Casey Tree and their own nurseries.

And a few others that rely on universities like Purdue that have extensive campus and other efforts.

Does Somerville have a program for other community landowners beyond the city properties?

Seems like being a tree city should extend to all relevant properties and not just to municipal land.

Cheers - Wig

On Fri, May 3, 2024 at 12:38 PM Renee Scott <renee...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Tim Talun]

This is an interesting discussion, I appreciate the different perspectives that have been shared.

According to the City's tree removal guidelines, the public hearing is being held in accordance with a City ordinance and the following applies to any public shade tree slated for removal:

If any person(s) object to the removal of the tree, then the tree can only be removed with the approval of the Mayor or the City Council.

-Tim

On Sat, May 4, 2024 at 8:25 AM Kate Lila Wheeler <lila...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Jon,

It's clear there are sweet benefits from living trees, I have enjoyed shade from these very pears.  On Beacon I think we saved two, in part for shielding upper stories from blasting sun.

Not sure where the balance should be set.  

These trees are illegal in many states due to their spread, pollinators can't eat them, deer don't like the taste and instead gnaw down native saplings.  .  

This video concludes 'kill them if you can' but take the perspective of an individual homeowner, not from a place that is the hottest urban heat island in the state

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDmGPRRcQM8

On Fri, May 3, 2024 at 8:36 PM Jon link <jon...@gmail.com> wrote:

I’d like to gently push back on the idea it’s a big win for the ecosystem. I totally understand that we don’t want to add more of these trees. That makes sense. That said aren’t mature trees are super important to our ecosystem and the environment? 

We live in a very urban place, so I find it hard to accept that any tree is so invasive that we should rush to chop them down. Trees do not spread at the same speed and fervor as plants such as black swalllow-wort. It’s not just shade they produce, the trees also host other wildlife that the saplings replacing them will not be able to for decades. 

--------------------------------------

Jon Link

jon...@gmail.com

On May 3, 2024, at 15:24, Barbara Fash <barbar...@gmail.com> wrote:



I admittedly am not an expert on this subject, but from reading the various links it seems that the trees in the park could be saved if they are not producing fruit or seeds. 🤷🏼‍♀️ shame to simply cut down a shade source in a heat spot in the city if it’s not reproducing. 

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[A. T.]

It’s fairly typical for architectural plans to show trees in their maturity to give a picture of the long term vision. However, it should be footnoted on the plans that the trees represented are mature so as not to come off as deceiving. Comprehensive plans will show both, size at planting and also fully mature. But that means two separate sketches. For public facing purposes, one sketch is the norm. 

Also for what it’s worth, the smaller the tree at planting, the better the survival rate, and exponentially so. As it is, the city plants 6-12ft tall trees, which is already larger than ideal for survivability (these are not tiny baby trees by any stretch of the imagination, they’re already 4-8 year trees depending on species). It’s a compromise between immediate public satisfaction and long-term success. The devil is in the details. 

Anton

Sent from my iPhone. Excuse brevity and errors. 

On May 5, 2024, at 12:01 PM, Melissa McWhinney <mmcwh...@comcast.net> wrote:

Oh, good call on the mature trees in the sketch!  That rises to the level of misrepresentation.  

Why can’t the existing trees remain and be two of the trees in the sketch, with the rest of the tiny baby trees represented in their actuality?  

 

— Please excuse autocorrect errors

On May 5, 2024, at 11:47 AM, Philip Ballentine <pbal...@gmail.com> wrote:



This conversation has been interesting. Thank you, @Chris Dwan  both for your response here and all your other advocacy and efforts -- I particularly appreciate your breakdowns of the budget, etc. in Somerville. As someone who can't attend a lot of things, it is a very important resource for me.

I also am leaning towards still objecting to these trees' removal.

I also noticed that the project docs/plans for the park include silhouettes of trees that are clearly large and mature, and not likely to represent the very small new trees that will actually be planted, and which may or may not survive given the overall heat island of the area. If the city doesn't have the capacity to keep new trees alive, they definitely shouldn't cut down mature trees in my opinion.

I have also emailed tr...@somerville.gov about the dead new tree on Boston St. I didn't know about that resource before, so thank you. I am pretty sure there are several others in the immediate area.

<image.png>

On Sun, May 5, 2024 at 9:47 AM MELISSA MCWHINNEY <mmcwh...@comcast.net> wrote:

Chris, for what it's worth, I think that comment came two years ago, possibly three, as I watched a very large old tree be removed (that has not been replaced).  The comment did not come from the crew leader.  

 

Thanks,

 

Melissa

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On 05/05/2024 8:42 AM EDT Chris Dwan <ch...@dwan.org> wrote:

 

 

Tim,

 

Under Somerville's charter, tree removal is yet another thing that only takes the Mayor's approval.  The city council can pass resolutions and orders, but the Mayor is under no obligation to obey them.

 

The usual practice among city staff for anything that seems likely to generate pushback is to get pre-approval.  That means that at this point in the process it's more of a tree-telling than a tree-hearing.

 

That frustrating dynamic is a big part of why we created the urban forestry committee.  It's intended to be a regular conversation between activists, urban landscape and arboriculture professionals, and city staff that lets us collaborate much earlier in the planning process.

 

To @Melissa's point about the city staff comment, I would be -shocked- if that comment came from anybody on the current tree crew.  That team has seen 100% turnover in the last several years, and it's a very different mindset now.

 

-Chris 

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