Urban Forest Management Plan for the Town of Collingwood 2020-2030

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Urban Forest Management Plan for the Town of Collingwood 2020-2030 URBAN FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE TOWN OF COLLINGWOOD 2020-2030 Consulting Team Peter Williams, M.Sc., RPF, CA; Consulting Forester/Arborist, Williams & Associates – Team Leader, Project co-Manager John McNeil, MBA, RPF, CA; Consulting Forester/Arborist-Municipal Specialist, McNeil Urban Forestry Inc. – Project co-manager Peter Kuntz, HB.Sc.F., RPF, Consulting Forestry, Environmental Planning, Kuntz Forestry Consulting Inc. - Project team, Canopy Cover Analysis, support Mike Rosen, BA, B.Sc., RPF, Dip. Adv. Forestry – Urban Forestry/Communications Specialist Tree Canada, President – Communications, project support Kevin Pangborn, H.BEM, RPF, CA; Consulting Forester/Arborist Williams & Associates – Windshield assessment, Inventory Management, support Terry Schwan, B.Sc.F., M.Sc., RPF – Consulting Forester Williams & Associates; Policy Summary. Sheila Mayer, B.Sc., L.U.T., Communications, Graphics and publishing. © 2019. Corporation of the Town of Collingwood All Rights Reserved. The preparation of this study was carried out with assistance from the Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Notwithstanding this support, the views expressed are the personal views of the authors, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Government of Canada accept no responsibility for them. Table of Contents Consulting Team ................................................................................................. i Table of Contents .............................................................................................. iii List of Tables ..................................................................................................... v List of Figures ................................................................................................... vi Executive Summary ......................................................................................... vii 1.0 Purpose, Vision, Guiding Principles & Goals ........................................... 1 1.1 Purpose of this Plan .......................................................................................................... 2 1.2 UFMP Vision Statement .................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Guiding Principles of the UFMP ....................................................................................... 3 1.4 UFMP Goals ....................................................................................................................... 4 2.0 Benefits of the Urban Forest .................................................................... 5 2.1 Historical Context for Town of Collingwood ................................................................. 13 2.1.1 Ecological and Landscape Context for Town of Collingwood ......................................... 14 3.0 Assessing the Urban Forest and Its Management ................................. 17 3.1 Policies, By-laws and Related Legislation Affecting Collingwood Urban Forest ....... 20 3.1.1 Collingwood By-Laws .................................................................................................... 20 3.1.2 Collingwood Policies ...................................................................................................... 21 3.1.3 Collingwood Studies, Plans & Reports ........................................................................... 27 3.1.4 Collingwood‟s Canopy Cover ......................................................................................... 28 3.1.5 Conservation Authority Policies ..................................................................................... 29 3.1.6 Province of Ontario Policies and Legislation .................................................................. 29 3.1.7 Federal Policies and Legislation .................................................................................... 31 3.2 Urban Forest Assessment 2018 Windshield Survey ..................................................... 32 3.3 Staff Interviews ................................................................................................................ 39 3.3.1 Highlights....................................................................................................................... 39 3.4 Criteria and Indicators of Urban Forest Sustainability ................................................. 42 3.5 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) ...................................... 48 3.6 Tree Inventories ............................................................................................................... 56 3.6.1 Tree Inventory Update - 2019 ........................................................................................ 57 3.6.2 Woodland Tree Maintenance Inventory ......................................................................... 60 3.7 Tree Canopy Assessment 2019 ...................................................................................... 60 3.7.1 Methodology used to estimate Canopy Cover ............................................................... 62 3.7.2 2018 Canopy Cover Update - Results. .......................................................................... 64 3.7.3 Discussion of the 2019 Canopy Cover Update .............................................................. 65 3.8 Communications and Community Engagement ........................................................... 66 3.8.1 Community Engagement Sessions ................................................................................ 66 3.8.2 Engage Collingwood Surveys ........................................................................................ 72 iii 4.0 Moving Forward ....................................................................................... 73 4.1 Tree Inventory ................................................................................................................. 73 4.1.1 Tree Inventory Data Management ................................................................................. 73 4.1.2 Tree Maintenance Work Scheduling ............................................................................. 74 4.2 Tree Canopy .................................................................................................................... 74 4.3 Woodland Inventory ....................................................................................................... 75 4.4 Strategy on Connectivity ................................................................................................ 76 4.5 Policy Review and Development. .................................................................................. 77 4.6 Planning for and Management of Street and Park Trees ............................................. 78 4.6.1 Tree Establishment ....................................................................................................... 80 4.6.2 Pruning ......................................................................................................................... 81 4.6.3 Tree and Stump Removals ........................................................................................... 82 4.6.4 Contingency Plans ........................................................................................................ 82 4.6.5 Operations Planning ..................................................................................................... 83 4.7 Trees, Green Infrastructure and Asset Management ................................................... 84 4.7.1 Green Infrastructure ...................................................................................................... 84 4.7.2 An Asset Management Approach .................................................................................. 85 5.0 Recommendations and Priorities ........................................................... 89 6.0 Operating (Action) Plans and Financial Plan ......................................... 97 6.1 Operating (Action) Plans 2020-2029 .............................................................................. 99 6.1.1 2020-2024 Operating Plan ............................................................................................ 99 6.2 Financial Plan 2020-2029 .............................................................................................. 105 7.0 References ............................................................................................ 109 APPENDIX 1A: External Stakeholders Meeting Survey on Forest Strategy and Management Plan Results .......................................................................... 111 APPENDIX 1B. Public Open House -Survey on Forest Strategy and Management Plan results .............................................................................................. 115 APPENDIX 2A Survey Results from Urban Forestry Management and Plan- External Stakeholders .......................................................................... 119 APPENDIX 2B Survey Results from Urban Forestry Management and Plan - Public Open House.............................................................................................. 121 APPENDIX 3 Tree Planting Specifications ............................................... 123 APPENDIX 4 Tree Planting List and species site suitability for Collingwood ........................................................................................... 129 iv List of Tables Table 2. 1 Street classes and length in
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