G U F F

Dear Candidate:

Guelph Urban Forest Friends is a local group that advocates for better protection of urban trees and canopy. We make delegations to City Council, hold events to raise awareness about the importance of urban trees, and distribute information about the many benefits of trees, and the threats to trees, through our web site.

We have serious concerns about the continued loss of mature trees in our City and hear frequently from upset residents about tree removals. We are submitting these questions to candidates for City Council and respectfully request your response by October 18. The responses we receive will be posted on our web site and e-mailed to our list of 500 supporters.

For further information, please check our website (www.guffguelph.ca) or contact us. Thank you for your response. GUFF

Mike Salisbury – Ward 4 Candidate

1.  Currently all tree planting, maintenance and removal activities are the responsibility of the City’s Operations Department.  Will you support and advocate for establishing an Urban Forest department headed by a forester with a degree in urban forestry?  Why or why not.

Yes – it is my understanding and intention that the Urban Forest Master Plan will recommend exactly this.

2.  Shade is important for reducing the heat island effect and for reducing the risk of skin cancer.  Will you support and advocate for establishing a shade policy which would set goals for shade coverage along streets/sidewalks, in parking lots and in parks?  Why or why not.

This would be an excellent issue to incorporate into the new Urban Design Guidelines, particularly specifying sufficient subsurface infrastructure to ensure the success of shade trees in such harsh growing conditions.

3.  There is currently no program in place to recognize or protect trees that are exceptionally large, old or have a significant history in the City.  Will you support and advocate for a city program to be adopted during the next term of council aimed at designating and protecting Heritage Trees?  Why or why not.

Significant debate went into both the Natural heritage Strategy and the recently passed Tree bylaw. I recognise there are many GUFF members who feel that these measures did not go far enough (other groups arguing they went too far) but some progress were made. I’m not sure there will be an opportunity to reopen these issues, however, I am supportive of these objectives and would gladly support the protection of heritage trees.

4.  Though the City has adopted a goal of 40% tree canopy coverage, information about tree canopy loss due to development, road construction, etc. is not being collected.  Will you support and advocate for collecting publicly accessible data, funded in the next budget cycle, on the annual removal of mature trees and loss of canopy within the City?  Why or why not.

I believe this could be rolled into the implementation of the Natural Heritage Strategy – this might also be an opportunity for GUFF or a citizen committee of Council to get more involved in an advisory role. Given the economic conditions expected over the next few years I don’t see too many new positions being created – we need to be creative and tap into the value of the qualified and motivated citizenry.

5.  The City does not have an inventory of trees in our urban forest (species, size, health, etc.), nor are trees given value as “assets” or “green infrastructure.”  Will you support and advocate for an inventory of trees in the City, including the dollar value of the trees (using currently available computer programs that compute the dollar value of ecological services provided by trees)?  Why or why not.

The city of Guelph (for the very first time in recent history) inventoried and quantified the value of all city owned “hard” assets to be incorporated into the budget process. The information is invaluable. A green asset inventory would be equally invaluable but brings along a host of significant challenges such as individual property rights and of course financial cost to produce and maintain such a database. The more I answer these questions the more I see a role for an “Urban Forest Advisory Committee” in addressing these types of issues.

6.  City Council recently passed a tree by-law which requires permits for removing large trees on properties over half an acre in size.  This tree by-law only covers a small percentage of properties within the City.  Will you support and advocate for expanding the existing tree by-law to cover all properties in Guelph?  Why or why not.