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Friday, 06 July 2007 |
Fairgrounds chosen to host Northwest Ohio tree event
By ANNIE LINDER
Staff Writer
At least 300 people throughout Northwest Ohio are expected to travel to the Auglaize County Fairgrounds next year for a day-long event on common problems associated with city trees, the local tree commission chair says.
On April 16, Wapakoneta is hosting Tree City USA 2008, an educational event, Wapakoneta City Tree Commission Chair Scott Risner said after Thursday’s meeting of the Tree Commission.
“We’ve done it before, but it’s been quite awhile,” Risner said of the event last held in the early 1990s in Auglaize County’s county seat.
The event is to be co-hosted by the villages of Cridersville, New Bremen, New Knoxville, Minster and the city of St. Marys.
The Tree City USA program is sponsored by The National Arbor Day Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. Its mission is to provide direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs, according to the National Arbor Day Foundation Web site.
Communities benefit from participating in the program through six ways — by developing a framework for action with an urban forester, becoming educated on issues facing trees, bolstering the community’s public image, encouraging citizen pride, receiving financial assistance and gaining publicity.
Cities hosting Tree City USA are eligible to earn a Tree City award if they meet a set of criteria related to the quality of their trees and the measures in place to protect them, Risner said.
They may also earn the Growth Award if they achieve above and beyond the established criteria. Wapakoneta earned six Growth Awards since the program began, Wapakoneta Mayor Don Wittwer said.
“It’s quite an honor,” Wittwer said, adding he expects the event will draw more people into the area.
At present, Tree Commission members are discussing possible lawn care and gardening vendors to invite.
Tree Commission members also are urging residents to take proper care of their trees, particularly in the hot, dry conditions.
Residents can water trees by placing a large pickle bucket with several nail-sized holes in the bottom near the base of the tree and allowing water to slowly reach the tree’s roots, which stimulates growth.
“If the residents don’t take care of the trees, we can’t continue to pay to replace them,” Tree Commission adviser Jim Ashba said.
In other business, Tree Commission members announced plans to treat 42 trees identified as having a chlorophyll shortage known as iron chlorosis if funding is available.
The estimated cost is a total of $1,000, which includes purchasing $313 in treatment pellets and labor costs, which are unknown at this time.
Tree Commission members also announced plans to cull approximately 20 percent of the city’s ash trees each year over the course of five years to stop the spread of the emerald ash Borer, beginning with the trees on Harrison Street.
Contractors are expected to fund the removal of those trees near the site due to bridge work in the area scheduled to begin in 2008. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 07 July 2007 )
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