MOUNT FOREST – One might think that with ‘forest’ right in its name, the town of Mount Forest would be focused on protecting its trees – especially the trees that are more than 100 years old.
But local resident Daphne Rappard became concerned when she saw matures trees being cut down for reasons she could not see.
So she delegated to council and learned there is no tree protection bylaw in the Township of Wellington North.
“Two years ago, 50 mature trees were removed,” she said. “Some were diseased, but most were just ‘in the way.’ So we decided to have a contest and make people aware.”
‘We’ is the Green Team that started as an initiative of Mount Forest United Church but has grown to include members beyond the congregation.
The team held The Most Awesome Tree contest last year and that generated interest and enthusiasm in the community for its trees, said Rhoda Seibert, chair of the Green Team.
“Our purpose is to protect and enhance the local environment and the first thing we’re targeting is trees,” she said.
“We see a lot of old trees coming down and not being replaced. I’m happy to say this initiative has become a community event.”
Before there can be a tree bylaw, there has to be data and the township has none. So the Green Team has divided the town into districts and working in pairs, they intend to identify, measure and count all the trees in public spaces.
On June 21, the Green Team met at Mount Forest Cemetery to take inventory of the trees there.
About a dozen team members came out. They recorded the species, measured their diameter at chest height and came away with an overall tree count.
This data will be plotted on a map and is the first step in what the team hopes will eventually translate into a tree protection bylaw.
Manuela Demedeiros is a Mount Forest resident who is also an assistant planner for tree protection with the City of Toronto.
There, any homeowner who wants to remove a tree that’s greater than 30cm in diameter must get a permit from the city. And they must plant another tree in compensation.
“Toronto’s tree canopy is 29 per cent, and they want to get it to 40% by 2030,” she said.
Demedeiros is drafting a tree bylaw the team hopes Wellington North will consider once the tree inventory is complete.
Toby Guenter is an arborist with Tober Tree Management. He attended the cemetery session too, to help team members identify tree species and help with the measuring.
There were sugar maples with DBH’s (diameter at breast height) of 90cm that would be at least 100 years old, he said.
Clare Black works works in a nursery, growing trees in pots for the Credit Valley Conservation Authority.
That’s given her an appreciation for the large, mature trees in town and what it’s taken for them to reach both their size and their age.
“To see our small town take an interest in trees – that really excited me,” she said. “That’s why I joined the group.”
The tree inventory will be done over the summer and they’ll start working on the bylaw in the fall, Seibert said.
There will also be another contest of some sort that will culminate in a community celebration of trees.
“Trees are so valuable. They provide shade and they clean the air and they are beautiful,” Seibert said.
Anyone interested in taking part in the tree inventory or learning more about the Mount Forest Green Team can call Seibert at 519-323-2105. Or visit their Facebook page.
