RESPONSE: During the Storm

1. RESPONSE: During the Storm October 13, 2010 Storms and the Urban Forest Preparedness and Response for Community Trees White Plains, NY Joseph (“Bud”) Nicoletti, Jr., P.E. Commissioner of Public Works/City Engineer The City of White Plains

2. 20,000 City Owned Trees! • Almost 14,000 street trees identified and located on GIS maps • Additional 300 acres of drinking water reservoir watershed (forest) • Over 150 acres of parkland heavily populated by trees • All City-owned property, including parks and recreational fields, are the responsibility of the Dept. of Public Works

3. DPW Bureau of Highways & Grounds • Has a dedicated Forestry Section with a Certified Arborist and three other permanently assigned employees • Perform tree prunings, hazard assessments, and removals • Log removal, stump grinding and/or extraction, as well as new planting done by separate crew.

4. Central Business District

9. 25 Square Feet

10. Pedestrian Barricade

13. Greenway Trail 1.5 miles long

15. Unusual Trees Identified

16. Disaster Strikes!!Tornado of July, 2007

20. Tropical Storm of March 13, 2010

24. What to Do - • Roads are blocked; completely? • Electrical wiring involved?

25. Blocked Roads(Cutting & Clearing) • Generate list of all streets that are blocked with fallen trees • Look for trees that have the potential to fall, even if road is open at the time • Identify trees that have become tangled up in wires

26. Prioritize the List • Identify the top five roads that need to be cleared ASAP. Keep an “aging” list. • Consider dead end streets (only one way in or out) • Main roadways (major problem to traffic flow) • Primary access for emergency vehicles? • Level of difficulty in clearing (easier ones first)

27. Fax List to Electric Utility • Fax is usually preferable to email • Put road location clearing in order of preference • Call to be sure that list was received • Ask for ETA of linemen crew(s); give location for initial contact within the municipality • Don’t leave the line crew alone for a minute! Escort them from location to location

28. How Much Assistance Can You Provide? • Aerial bucket truck • Ground crews • Grapple crane, wheel loader • Chippers • Disposal site (compost, roll-off containers, etc.)

31. Grapple Log Loader

32. Morbark TubGrinder/Shredder 760 hp diesel engine has four (!) Diesel Particulate Filters; 90% soot reduction

33. Wood Chips and Mulch

34. Screener

36. Recycling Yard Green Drop-Off

38. Help Arrives!

39. Right Spot for the Right Tree • Both the trees and the utility pole wiring can change over the years

40. Severe Pruning – can it actually make it worse? Tree can be left in a poor state of health Radical pruning can leave the tree structurally unbalanced Many downed power lines are the result of the whole tree being uprooted Maybe the right place for the tree is where it is, but the power lines should go underground

41. White Plains – 1910 to 2009

43. Things looked better by the late 30’s

44. STRATUManalysis of the Value of Urban Trees • Study performed by Fred Cowett of Cornell University, Dept. of Horticulture • Used City’s existing data for over 13, 500 inventoried trees • Program estimates street tree services value (including eco-system services) • White Plains has a minimum estimated value of over $2,000,000 for the portion of trees studied, broken down by species and DBH

47. Our Tree Nursery

48. Watch your investment grow • Buy smaller diameter trees at bargain prices • New York Power Authority’s “buy one, get one free” program at about $75 per pair • Use tree spade attachment on skid-steer loader to easily transplant and move trees

50. Cornell Cooperative Extension • Certified Tree Steward Program • Care of trees • Hazard assessment • Tree Identification • Safety