Help Needed Now to add a Seattle Urban Forester Position to the Seattle Budget!

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Your help is needed now. Councilmember Alex Pedersen is introducing an amendment to the Seattle City Budget to add the City Urban Forester position to the Office of Sustainability and Environment. This is a big step forward! CM Lisa Herbold has signed on as a Co-Sponsor. A third CM is needed by noon on Monday.

The budget process eventually needs 5 votes to put this amendment in the budget. Please contact Council members asking them to join in co-sponsoring Councilmember Pedersen’s amendment. You can also thank CM Pedersen for putting this amendment forward and thank CM Herbold for joining on as a co-sponsor.

Here is the City’s response in creating the position. Response Chief Arborist SLI MO-001-A-002-2022.pdf This is a very strong document in support of creating this position.

Here is contact information (emails and phone calls) for individual city council members and staff – If you can only send one e-mail, send it to council@seattle.gov Sending individual e-mails to your own CM and the 2 city wide Council members is most effective. Calling also is helpful. You can use statements in the above document and the e-mail below to state why you support the amendment. Your own personal e-mail is most effective. It doesn’t need to be long. Ask if they will be a co-sponsor. Also making phone calls after sending e-mails really helps.. Leave a message if no one answers.

You can also urge that money be added to the budget for planting trees now. Suggestion – minimum $500,000 to help meet environment equity and race and social justice goals.

Below is a more detailed position paper on what the Urban Forester position could entail. The letter has been sent to the Seattle City Council and Mayor.

Dear Seattle City Council,

Please support amending the budget to add a Seattle Urban Forester position to the Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) to coordinate urban forestry issues among the 9 city departments dealing with trees and the urban forest. This would set up the same oversight needed for urban forestry like the proposed addition/shift of the Citywide Coordinator of Climate Initiatives Position to OSE is intended to accomplish.

There is currently no one in charge of overseeing overall urban forest management in the city. There are no annual updates on what is happening to the urban forest citywide. A once every 5 to 6 year LIDAR Canopy Study is only a bird’s eye view, at a particular time, and then only looks at urban canopy area loss or gain which is only one metric of urban forest sustainability and health.

Every 5-6 years there has also been an update to the Urban Forest Management Plan, but responsibilities and priorities are left to individual departments. There is no annual accountability on the progress of meeting goals. The Seattle Urban Forest Interdepartmental Team helped develop the Urban Forest Management Plan but there is no one in charge overall to ensure that goals and responsibilities are being carried out. The Seattle Urban Forestry Commission does have a yearly report – See Seattle Urban Forestry Commission 2021 Annual Report. but it mainly covers the activities of the volunteer Commission, which is limited to making recommendations to the Seattle City Council and Mayor.

We can and must do better to protect and enhance our urban green infrastructure. It is critical for so many reasons, including climate resiliency, environmental, race and social equity, stormwater runoff, carbon sequestration, air pollution, habitat for birds and wildlife, and the mental and physical health for all living and working in One Seattle.

Resources are available but someone needs to help coordinate and plan and be sure the city gets help that is available. This can be one of the responsibilities of the Seattle Urban Forester and associated support. Both THE Washington State Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry program and the Federal Government have new funds available for trees and urban forestry. Having a Seattle Urban Forester can help the city to not just fund proposals like the canopy equity and resilience plan in the current draft budget but also get additional funds to plant and maintain the trees needed to meet the city’s 2037 30% canopy goal and also help meet environmental equity and race and social justice goals.
.Pew Trusts: “Towns May Grow Millions More Trees with $1.5 B for Urban Forestry. This article covers new state and national funding available to help urban cities like Seattle .increase tree and urban forest canopy cover.

Here is an example of a job description and qualifications for a City Urban Forester on the ISA (International Society of Arborists) website. ISA Municipal Arborist/Forester This position could be to oversee and coordinate all related work covered under the Urban Forest Management Plan which covers both public and private trees. Right now, all the work is decentralized with each Department responsible for certain work and goals, but there is no one overseeing or coordinating the overall plan to ensure that the work and goals are being met.

ISA Description – “THE MUNICIPAL ARBORIST, or forester, is the individual responsible for the long-term care and management of city trees. Duties include the application of a management plan including planting, pruning, protecting, and removal programs for public trees and associated vegetation; budget preparation; and interaction with the community (both public and private), politicians, and other agencies. Municipal arborists’ activities also encompass forestry, ecology, hydrology, atmospheric science, energy, and stormwater control.”” A college degree in forestry, horticulture, or related fields will most likely be required. Individuals will also be required to have 3-5 years of experience in tree and plant care operations and be an ISA Certified Arborist. Proficiency in computer use and operation is highly desired.”

The City of Boston is hiring a Director of Urban Forestry – You can see their job description here. See Director of Urban Forestry

The following report detailing what was happening in Vancouver, Washington as an example where they have a Forestry Division that provides yearly reports. This is an example of both citywide accountability and yearly progress reports, Urban Forestry 2021 Annual Report

Here is the page where you can see the yearly reports done in Portland which requires permits to remove and plant trees among other requirements. You can see a detailed of what is happening on a yearly basis. Urban Forest Action PlansYearly Updates .

The Seattle Urban Forester (Citywide Coordinator) position should be placed in the Office of Sustainability and Environment like the proposed shift of the Citywide Coordinator for Climate Initiatives. OSE budget transfer from SDOT:  Citywide Coordinator for Climate Initiatives Position Transfer $222,073 1.00 FTE

The city of Tacoma has their Urban Forest Division in their Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability. Tacoma Urban Forestry

Can we count on your support for adding a Seattle Urban Forester to the OSE budget?

Steve Zemke
Chair – TreePAC

stevezemke@msn.com  sshettler@msn.com   woody.wheeler@gmail.com

Click here to donate

Urge the Seattle City Council at Tues. March 29th meeting to pass CB 120207 to regulate tree service providers

URGE THE SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL TO PASS COUNCIL Council Bill 120207 

THIS TUES MARCH 29th

Dear TreePAC supporters,
Last Wednesday, the Seattle City Council Land Use Committee passed a key component in our effort to update Seattle’s Tree Protection Ordinance. All 5 committee members voted to forward Council bill 120207 – An ordinance relatng to land use and urban forestry adding a tree service provider registration procedure and requirement to the full City Council for a vote on Tuesday, March 29 starting at 2 PM.
This ordinance update is needed to help stop illegal tree removal in the city and to ensure that Tree Care Providers are knowledgeable of the existing tree code and regulations. If operating out of compliance, they will face fines for violations and after 2 violations are prohibited from working in the city for a year. The companies must be registered also as contractors with the state, carry adequate insurance and have workers compensation for their employees in case they are injured on the job.

Click on the link above to send a pre-written e-mail that you can edit.

The Seattle Department of Transportation has required such registration for nine years for contractors working on street trees. Spokane Washington also requires registration for all Tree Service Providers working on public trees.
Eight states require similar registration of Tree Service Providers doing work on both public and private property – California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Seattle needs to follow suit.
We need your help to ensure this bill passes the full City Council on Tuesday and is signed by Mayor Bruce Harrell. Please send the e-mail letter linked below with any added personal comments and stories of why this legislation is needed to the City Council and Mayor. Thanks for your help.
You can also help by calling Council members offices and urging they pass this much needed legislation. You can see their contact information here.
If you want to testify for the bill, you can sign up starting 2 hours before the 2 PM meeting time on Tuesday March 29th.  Public comment is at the beginning of the meeting. It will probably be limited to 1 minute.
PUBLIC COMMENT Members of the public may sign up to address the Council for up to 2 minutes on matters on this agenda; total time allotted to public comment at this meeting is 20 minutes. Register online to speak during the Public Comment period at the 2:00 p.m. City Council meeting at http://www.seattle.gov/council/committees/public-comment. Online registration to speak at the City Council meeting will begin two hours before the 2:00 p.m. meeting start time, and registration will end at the conclusion of the Public Comment period during the meeting. Speakers must be registered in order to be recognized by the Chair
Thanks for your help!
Steve Zemke
Chair – TreePAC.
Donations are welcome to help us continue our efforts. Thank-you.

Seattle City Council Passes Legislation to Remove SEPA Appeals

The Seattle City Council just passed legislation to limit SEPA appeals by Seattle citizens on upzones for housing.

It took them only 3 months to pass this legislation giving more authority to the Departmental of Construction and Inspections to fast track developer projects. Meanwhile  they have not updated the Tree Protection Ordinance in 10 years. The Council first passed a Resolution to update the Tree Protection Ordinance in 2009 and passed two similar resolutions this year, including one in Sept saying they needed more time to study the issue. Right.

In 2017 they studied the issue in a report entitled “Tree Regulations Research Project” that they kept hidden from the public and only released after a public records request. Their findings included:

“Current code is not supporting tree protection.”

“We are losing exceptional trees (and groves) in general”

“We are losing exceptional trees (and groves) in general” “Conifers and large tree species are coming out with deciduous and dwarf species are coming in.”

“Landscaping Standards final inspection is not consistently applied.”

“Design Review and code-required tree protection are being avoided.”

And then publicly they continue to say, as they did in the introduction to this ordinance, “The Mayor and City Council find that the City’s codes have evolved in recent decades such that there is generally less need to employ SEPA, because other City codes and requirements effectively mitigate environmental impacts.”

The Seattle Urban Forestry Commission in June provided the Council and the Mayor with a draft “Tree and Urban Forest Protection Ordinance”  which the city has put on the back burner while they consider the issues. They have put the issue off until 2020 saying they need more public input.

Citizens can support this draft by going to www.DontClearcutSeattle.org and urging the city pass this legislation.