Street Tree Inventory Report Mill Park Neighborhood November 2015 Street Tree Inventory Report: Mill Park Neighborhood November 2015
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Street Tree Inventory Report Mill Park Neighborhood November 2015 Street Tree Inventory Report: Mill Park Neighborhood November 2015 Written by: Carrie Black, Kat Davidson, Angie DiSalvo, Jeremy Grotbo, and Jeff Ramsey Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry 503-823-4484 [email protected] http://portlandoregon.gov/parks/treeinventory Staff Neighborhood Coordinator: Rob Hanifin Data Collection Volunteers: Tony Mecum GIS Technical Support: Josh Darling, Portland Parks & Recreation Financial Support: Portland Parks & Recreation Cover Photos (from top left to bottom right): 1) The unusual fruit of a glorybower (Clerodendrum sp.) 2) A closeup on the dry cone of a cypress (Cupressus sp.) 3) A young pecan (Carya illinoinensis), rare in Portland. 4) Rosy margins on the leaves of a tricolor beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Tricolor'). 5) Fall color and woody fruit of a stewartia (Stewartia sp.) 6) The lush foliage of a Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga( menziesii), an important tree type in Mill Park. 7) Spiky foliage emerges from the trunk of a monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana). 8) Vibrant fall color on a young tupelo (Nyssa sp.) ver. 11/18/2015 Portland Parks & Recreation 1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1302 Portland, Oregon 97204 (503) 823-PLAY Commissioner Amanda Fritz www.PortlandParks.org Director Mike Abbaté Table of Contents Key Findings .......................................... 1 About Portland’s Street Tree Inventory . 3 Mill Park Street Tree Inventory ........................... 5 Neighborhood Characteristics ......................... 5 Urban Forest Composition............................ 6 Species diversity and tree type composition . 6 Functional tree type .............................. 8 Size class distribution ............................. 9 Mature tree form distribution ..................... 10 Importance value................................ 10 Tree Condition .................................... 11 Planting Site Composition and Stocking Level ........... 13 Planting sites................................... 13 Stocking level .................................. 14 Right tree in the right place ....................... 14 Replacement Value ................................. 15 Environmental and Aesthetic Benefits .................. 16 The Future Forest of Mill Park ....................... 17 Recommendations ..................................... 21 Next Steps: Tree Plans and Tree Teams .................... 23 References ........................................... 25 Appendices........................................... 27 A: Methods ....................................... 27 B: Street trees of Mill Park by tree type ................. 29 C: Street trees of Mill Park by size (map)................ 31 D: Vulnerability to key pests (map)..................... 32 E: Young street trees (trees ≤ 3” DBH) (map)............. 33 F: Large street trees (trees > 24” DBH) (map) ............ 34 G: Poor and dead street trees (map) .................... 35 H: Planting site types (map) .......................... 36 I: Planting site sizes (map)............................ 37 J: Available street tree planting sites (map) ............... 38 K: Priority street tree planting sites (map) ............... 39 Portland Parks & Recreation i Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry staff collected data on all 1,167 street trees within the Mill Park neighborhood to compile the neighborhood’s first complete street tree inventory. The data are being used to inform the creation of a Neighborhood Tree Plan to guide interested volunteers in caring for their community’s trees. ii Street Tree Inventory Report – Mill Park Neighborhood 2015 Key Findings This report provides the results of a street tree inventory conducted in the Mill Park neighborhood in 2015, along with Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) Urban Forestry staff recommendations for the Mill Park tree team. It took one volunteer four hours plus additional staff time to collect data on each of the neighborhood’s 1,167 street trees. URBAN FOREST STRUCTURE • Mill Park’s street tree population is dominated by maple, cherry, Douglas-fir, dogwood, and plum and does not meet recommended species diversity guidelines. While 76 tree types were found in this inventory, only two families, Rosaceae and Sapindaceae, account for more than 43% of the street tree resource. Furthermore, both the Acer (maple) and Prunus (plum, cherry) genera are over represented leaving Mill Park’s street tree population vulnerable to pests, pathogens, and effects of a changing climate. The dominance of broadleaf deciduous trees found in this inventory points to a need to diversify functional, as well as genetic, diversity in order to maximize value and create a more resilient, sustainable urban forest. • There are many young trees in Mill Park. This is likely the result of successful tree planting efforts in recent years and provides an opportunity for inexpensive young tree maintenance activities that will reduce future costs and ensure the longevity of these trees. If young trees are properly cared for today, Mill Park will have a healthier age distribution of street trees in the future. • Only 28% of Mill Park’s street trees are large form varieties. Large form trees are necessary to increase canopy cover and the benefits they provide for Mill Park’s residents. Planting the estimated 195 large available spaces identified in this inventory will maximize tree canopy in Mill Park’s rights-of-way. TREE CONDITION • The majority of trees inventoried in Mill Park are in fair or good condition, however, 43% of the trees that are rated poor are in the Prunus genus. PLANTING SITES AND STOCKING LEVEL • Only 37% of street tree planting sites have trees in Mill Park. Planting efforts should focus on the largest sites with no overhead high voltage wires first, as large form trees will provide the most long- term benefits to the neighborhood. • More than 65% of empty planting sites are located in unimproved planting sites without curbs or sidewalks. This represents an opportunity to plant large form trees. URBAN FOREST VALUE AND BENEFITS • Mill Park’s street trees produce an estimated $90,399 annually in environmental and aesthetic benefits. The replacement value of this resource is $3.4 million. Planting efforts focused on appropriately sized trees distributed across the neighborhood will ensure that future benefits are equitably distributed among all residents. Portland Parks & Recreation 1 Clockwise from top left: 1) Alaska-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) is an evergreen conifer with attractive weeping branches. It is well-suited to the many unimproved planting sites in Mill Park, however, its strong central leader makes it inappropriate for planting under high voltage wires. 2) Maples, like this native bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), comprise more than 17% of all trees in the neighborhood. 3) At 51.4" DBH this Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is the largest diameter street tree in the Mill Park neighborhood. 4) Creating room for new and existing large trees will be important as streets undergo development in Mill Park. 2 Street Tree Inventory Report – Mill Park Neighborhood 2015 About Portland’s Street Tree Inventory THE IMPORTANCE OF STREET TREES Street trees are an important public asset in urban environments, serving as a buffer between our transportation corridors and our homes while enhancing the livability of our city. As integral components of a community’s green infrastructure, street trees provide multiple economic, environmental, and social benefits such as cleaner air and water, cooler summer temperatures, safer streets, and increased property values. Unlike traditional, “grey” infrastructure, which begins to deteriorate the moment it is installed, the benefits that street trees provide increase over the lifetime of the tree, making their planting and maintenance one of the best investments a city and its residents can make. While street trees are only one component of Portland’s urban forest, they are particularly important because they are the trees that residents Urban forests are complex, living interact with most. Having adequate information resources that interact both about the street tree population allows a community to make informed decisions about species selection, positively and negatively with the planting, and maintenance priorities. Information on surrounding environment. They the location, condition, and diversity of the street tree produce multiple benefits and have population enables our communities to steward this resource and ensure its continued benefits into the associated management costs. In order future. Undertaking a street tree inventory is not only to fully realize the benefits, a sound an investment in the current and future well-being of the trees, but in the community itself. understanding of the urban forest THE INVENTORY PROCESS resource is needed. This understanding Portland’s Tree Inventory Project began with a pilot starts at the most basic level with a street tree inventory in 2010, and since then 46 neighborhoods have partnered with Urban Forestry forest inventory to provide baseline to inventory street trees and create action-oriented data for management decisions. Neighborhood Tree Plans. To date, volunteers have identified, measured, and mapped more than 150,000 street trees! Neighborhood groups interested in trees begin by gathering volunteers to help conduct an inventory. Urban Forestry staff provides training, tools, and event organization. Together information is collected