Published: April 23, 2008 11:07 pm            

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: New plantings will be taking root

After waiting through winter, the town highway department and Re-Tree Western New York are finally able to get back to replanting trees lost due to the October storm.

More than 1,800 trees were lost during the storm, but many of those were weak and already slated for removal, said Town of Tonawanda Highway Superintendent Bradley Rowles.

“We typically remove around 450 trees each year, and a lot of the trees that were damaged would have been part of those,” Rowles said.

Silver maples were hit especially hard since wood is brittle and apt to break in high winds. The trees were planted in the town’s early years because they are fast growers, but that quick growth has caused problems with roots damaging nearby sidewalks and streets, Rowles said.

“We have a sidewalk replacement program in place where we’ll go in and cut both sides of the root, then replace the affected sidewalk,” Rowles said.

But when looking at replanting with an eye toward the town’s infrastructure, those types of trees aren’t something that should be planted near a sidewalk as they were before. Re-Tree WNY won’t plant the silver maple or emerald ash, which are likely to be infested with Emerald Ash Borer beetles in coming years, said Re-Tree WNY Founder and Co-Chairman Paul Maurer.

“We’re only planting the types we expect to be acclimated to the area and not prone to some problems,” Maurer said.

They’re also taking a proactive approach to planting under power lines, since trees with branches that overlapped the lines caused many of the power outage problems during the storm. From here on out, the trees planted under power lines will be chosen so that they don’t grow into them, Maurer said.

“For those spots, we’re picking species that don’t have to be pruned and look abnormal since they won’t go over the height requirements,” Maurer said.

Re-Tree WNY is planning to plant 150 trees in the Town of Tonawanda and asks that municipalities match their efforts to double the accomplishment. But in the town, the forestry division of the highway department has gone above and beyond, Maurer said.

Rowles is hoping to get a tree planted for every one that was lost by next spring, with 609 trees going in this spring alone. Getting that done on time will depend on the weather, but that hasn’t been a problem yet, he said.

“The weather has really been on our side,” Rowles said. “If we’re getting spring rains, we can’t rake the topsoil as well, but this year has been pretty good so far.”

A big planting day is planned for May 3, with the 150 trees from Re-Tree WNY and several more from the town going in the ground over that weekend. The group already has nearly 1,000 volunteers, but more are always needed, especially if the group hopes to double its output in the fall as they planned, Maurer said.

“Just this past week our sign-up system became computerized,” Maurer said. “Now we have a database to keep track of our registration and volunteer hours for people who are doing it for school or service clubs.”

The group’s Web site, www.re-treewny.org, has a button on the right side of the page that will allow people to sign up easily and help coordinators find volunteers in their area. Those coordinators can train new recruits quickly in the art of planting trees, which has to be done right to ensure give the tree the best chance of survival, Maurer said. New devices called ooze tubes settled around the base of the trunk will provide a more efficient way to water the new trees, but they will only help if residents take an interest in watering the plants and helping them grow.

“We especially want to get people involved in the neighborhoods where we’re planting,” Maurer said. “That way they’ll really buy into it and feel that it’s our responsibility.”

Contact reporter Daniel Pyeat 693-1000, ext. 158.

        

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