BY NEIL SILINS, BRANDON TREE WARDEN
At the January 23, 2023 Selectboard meeting, I took questions about the Shade Tree Preservation Plan that I had submitted for their review. I wanted to make sure the community understood the purpose and scope of it, as well as how each individual might be affected when the Plan is adopted.
Removing a tree is never a lightly-made decision. Trees contribute a lot to our community and take a long time to grow, so removal of a tree is a last resort. This brings up a complicated question. What is the best way to manage our town trees? The Shade Tree Preservation Plan is a first step in maintaining the vibrant tree canopy that helps to make Brandon a desirable community for residents, visitors, and tourists.
Statutes regulating the position of tree warden were amended and updated effective November 2020. The statutes limit municipal control of trees, via the tree warden, to “shade trees”. According to Vermont Title 24, Chapter 067, various sections (I’ll just call these “the regulations” from now on) a “shade tree” is defined as a shade or ornamental tree located in the public way or public place, provided that the tree was planted by the municipality or designated as a shade tree through a municipal Shade Tree Preservation Plan (STPP).
Again, from the regulations, with some interpretation. The STPP shall:
- describe a program for planting new trees and shrubs
- provide for the maintenance of shade trees via feeding, pruning, and protection from disease and pests
- determine financial considerations for services to other municipalities
- determine whether tree maintenance or removal requires approval of another municipal officer or body, and
- determine the process for the removal of diseased, dying, or dead shade trees and any shade trees that create a hazard to public safety, impact a disease or insect control program, or must be removed for another specified reason.
An inventory of our trees was started in 2021 by volunteers working with the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program. The inventory is a wonderful tool to use to keep track of size, condition, and species. Also, please note that the inventory will pick up again as soon as we have leaves. Volunteers always welcome.
Brandon does have an inventory, but we frequently don’t have records that indicate who planted a tree, making the first half of the shade tree definition difficult to determine. (We do have records for the trees planted as part of Segment 6). That makes determining a tree covered by the statutes rather more complicated.
According to the regulations:
- the tree warden shall control all shade trees within the municipality.
- the tree warden may remove or cause to be removed from the public spaces trees that are infested or infected or that constitute a public hazard.
- The tree warden may also determine that the town or an owner or lessee of abutting property has sufficiently controlled all insect pests or tree diseases upon the trees within a public space and may determine that it is not necessary to remove the trees.
Additionally, a shade tree shall not be cut or removed in whole or in part, except by a tree warden of his or her deputy, or by a person having the written permission of a tree warden. There is also a notification and hearing process when a removal is deemed necessary. If these steps are not taken, there is a penalty for “Whoever shall willfully mar or deface a shade tree without the written permission of a tree warden or legislative body…” or who “willfully and critically injures or cuts down a shade tree without written permission…”
It’s important to keep in mind that the town maintains a right-of-way on either side of a public roadway. Trees growing in this zone are under the jurisdiction of the town. Anyone wishing to remove a tree in the right-of-way should consult the tree warden. Unauthorized removal of such trees may result in fines.
The purpose of the regulations is to make sure that shade trees maintain a special position, that individuals can’t cut them down for any reason without “checks and balances”.
The purpose of the Shade Tree Preservation Plan is to make sure that the Brandon tree canopy remains vibrant and lush. Trees can be injured, have parasites that kill them, receive injury from storms, lightening, and errant drivers. And, even if everything goes well, they have a natural life span. We’d like to make sure that the trees we have diversity in species and age. We need to diversify species because invasive pests tend to focus on specific species of our native trees (think Emerald Ash Borer), and age because if all of the trees are the same age, they’ll be more likely to become hazards at the same time (think of all the ancient maples recently taken down on Park Street).
I know that regulations of any sort are hard to read, and even harder to make sense of. Hopefully this will help sort out what the Shade Tree Preservation Plan is supposed to do. It’s slow going, but it I think we’re making great progress towards having a tree-management program that will protect the entire tree canopy in Brandon for generations to come.
