For the first time, the City of Utica has a complete count on the trees in right-of-ways throughout its boundaries.
There are 10,915 trees in city right-of-ways, not including those found in parks, private backyards or other areas. The inventory was completed by Davey Resource Group, using a $50,000 grant award from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Work on the street tree inventory began the first week of December and was completed by Dec. 21, said Chris Lawrence, City of Utica senior planner. Davey Resource Group deployed six arborists throughout the city to collect information on street trees, including their location, species, size and overall condition.
The arborists were wearing bright vests and carrying tablets while they walked the city streets to catalog trees, according to a City of Utica statement from Dec. 17.
With the inventory in place, Davey Resource Group will now develop Utica’s first community forest management plan. The plan will help the city apply for state DEC grants to plant trees, Lawrence said.
“With the street tree inventory, we can very easily show where the neighborhoods with the greatest need are,” he said.
The inventory and management plan will enable the city to identify areas that need more trees and how to preserve the character of tree-lined corridors such as Memorial Parkway, Lawrence said. The community forest management plan should be complete by February.
“This initiative helps in a lot of ways and the bottom line is, it’s about cohesion, efficiency and being a good steward of our streetscape” said Mayor Robert Palmieri, in a Dec.17 statement. “We’re always looking for ways to become more efficient with the resources we have and provide the best possible product and the best possible City to the taxpayer.”
The inventory will be maintained by the city using software from Davey Resource Group.
Other cities use the same software, which produces a map of the tree inventory, showing the location, species, height and diameter of the trees, as well as the locations of stumps and vacant space.
Binghamton has its tree inventory available to the public online and created an urban forest management plan in 2018.
