Trees along the Susquehanna riverfront
Harrisburg began its first city-wide tree inventory in at least a decade this week.
An urban forestry management company with certified arborists is conducting a census of trees across the city over the next month or so, according to Harrisburg forester Cody Legge.
After the inventory is complete, the city will identify where tree maintenance—including removing, pruning or planting— must be completed.
“They’ll do all the streets first, and then double back to do our parks,” said Legge, noting the contractors will work their way across the city at their discretion.
The work is funded through a $2 million federal “TreeVestment” grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The grant is designed to bolster urban tree canopies.
The vast majority of the money has been set aside for tree work, said Legge, which, between maintenance, removal and plantings, can be costly to perform.
Legge said he expects that the vast majority of city trees may need to be pruned, either to remove routine deadwood or to resolve clearance issues. This would include city trees between sidewalks and curbs that are technically in the public “right of way.”
“There’s quite a bit of conflicting issues with tree limbs being just a little too low on the streets or the sidewalks,” Legge said.
He added that a handful of “risky” trees may need to be removed, but the grant dictates that anywhere the city removes a tree, a new tree must be planted in its place. He has also advised the contractor to take note of stumps or divots in the ground where the city could replant a tree where one clearly was in the past.
Legge estimated that the last tree inventory for Harrisburg was conducted around 2016.
This one will be a little different in that previous tree inventories were conducted by volunteers, he said, while this one uses certified arborists. This inventory is also unique in that it will also include trees in city parks while past inventories did not.
A smaller portion of funds from the TreeVestment grant will go toward community outreach efforts, Legge said, such as engaging with kids at the Harrisburg School District through the science-based tree planting program, “Roots to Rivers.”
Overall, Legge said he is excited about having an updated tree database to work from and to potentially add more trees to the city’s canopy.
“It just makes a city more livable,” he said. “Far too often you go down a street and there isn’t any greenery. It is fairly bleak and hot, and not awfully pleasant. If there are trees to provide shade and greenery, it’s a mood booster.”
TreeVestment was funded by the federal Inflation Reduction Act.
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