Evanston’s Forestry Division today is launching a computerized inventory of all public trees along streets and in city parks.
The work will be conducted by Davey Resource Group employees who will begin at the south end of the city. The inventory is scheduled to be completed by the start of June.
Davey employees will be wearing “Davey Resource Group” uniforms, high visibility personal protection equipment and Davey caps. They will be driving white sedans with the Davey logo on the side and will park with orange traffic cones around cars.
Some things to note:
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This inventory is intended collect many attributes of the Evanston urban forest, such as size, species, location, and health of each public tree. Davey inspectors are not scheduling tree trimmings or removals. They are only there to collect specific data.
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Two to six Davey inspectors will work between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
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Davey employees will only be on public property and at no time are they authorized to enter private property. There is no need for any DRG employee to approach residents requesting any personal information. If any person does so, please contact authorities immediately.
Once the survey is complete, the information will be uploaded into the City’s Geographic Image System map and work management database.
Related story
City to inventory public trees
Tree Count
Hmmmmmm Must not be a Tree No Leaves
Please explain
What is the purpose of this inventory taking? How much does it cost? Does Cook County send people into the forest preserves to inventory county trees? Is this a late april fools day joke? How about taking an inventory of the cubic yards of sand on Evanston beaches? Or what is the average number of clouds in the Evanston sky on any given day? Please explain why we are taking an inventory of Mother Nature!
Explained
As was explained in the "City to inventory public trees" story linked above, the survey's stated purpose is to "identify tree species and assess the condition of each tree to establish priorities for removal and trimming work."
While Mother Nature may let trees in the forest fall where they may, a tree in the parkway falling on somebody's car or house or head can create liability issues for the city.
It's been nine years since the last such study. This one is estimated to cost $122,000.
You could find more detail about it in the City Council packet for the Feb. 24 meeting at which the project was approved.
— Bill
Stumps in front of Oakton School
I was dismayed to see what I counted as seven stumps on the north side of Oakton School along Oakton Street. These trees were cut last week. I assume that they were ash trees that were damaged by the ash borer or some other type of tree with a disease or infestation.
Does anyone have any type of information on why these many trees were cut and if there are plans to replace them? I think that they had been growing there for about 4-5 years and were reaching a nice size. They will be missed and that many low stumps in that small an area give the block a very forlorn look.