Developments in the city and interest in protecting our trees have taken off more quickly than we anticipated. The recent ER headlines, articles and reports from Scott Wineland, Dennis Beardsley and Denice Britton, our new Urban Forester, have brought the subject to the forefront.

Renewed international concerns about global warming and environmental degradation focus our attention on the beneficial interactions between our trees and the effects on our quality of life and that of the whole ecosystem for which we are responsible.

This constitutes a unique opportunity to move forward with the education of our community and the development of our existing Tree Ordinance, an action that already has a degree of political support from the public, the Council and Commissions. This will assist in the preservation of over 30,000 trees in Chico and the care and protection of the thousands of acres of open space we have and all should value, and for which we should have a Natural Resources Manager, as there is no one on the city staff with a biology background.

Background

• TreeAction is an effective non-party political lobbying group that produced Chico’s first Tree Ordinance four years ago, and by public events, a petition and presentations, enrolled the City Council and staff into creating the legal framework for the ordinance and adopting it, albeit in a watered-down form.
• We are now ‘rallying the troops’ behind this new initiative; and as before we need an agreed plan and your support.
• We had 3000+ petitioners last time and had public events – the ‘Bidwells’ came back to Bidwell Mansion to support our actions and we had well-supported tree protection rallies and activities in the park.
• We took action about particular tree removals. Mr. Meghdadi’s housing development was a hot button issue. Manzanita road widening plans were modified and this saved hundreds of mature trees from the axe. Now Route 99 seems to be another similar effort to ravage many trees by road widening,

 What’s happening now?

• At the last election, progressive Councilors, and in particular Scott Gruendl, agreed to back an extension to the Tree Ordinance. This is now on the Council’s agenda for April 17. If agreed, it will be submitted to the Internal Affairs committee for review and strengthening.
• We need volunteers to obtain factual survey data on Chico’s tree cover, and to monitor the ordinance when enacted. Last time we had survey information from arborists who told us about their tree removal activities in the city and the results, though approximate, were shocking – over 500 large trees a year were being removed and countless young ones. There was no control; that was what compelled us to get a protective ordinance.
• Expert consultants who help cities to build effective tree ordinances think ours is very much in its infancy and even so is not being properly applied so we aim to remedy its shortcomings.
• *We need the council to allocate staff and money to implement the ordinance and so control and reduce and mitigate the tree loss we are suffering. Good intentions are no longer enough.
• We need to know what is happening, we need transparency. Each development, each tree removal of a protected tree should be monitored.
• We need to know how many permits have been issued for tree removal and how many fines have been initiated. How many times has the ordinance been flouted?
• The Urban Forester has a complex and detailed job so we need to support her and get her the resources-money and staff she needs to do the job well. It is not our intention to be adversaries and second-guess our professional arborists, but to be powerful grass roots supporters.