A message from the Chair of our Trees Committee:
We need your voice: be the voice for our urban forest. Fill out the Urban Forestry Management Plan Working Group survey by July 14th.
Under a grant primarily from CAL FIRE, the Urban Forestry Management Plan Working Group was formed to investigate current Tree Policies in the City of Los Angeles. Its goal is to prepare towards creating an Urban Forestry Management Plan, which our City lacks and most other major U.S. Cities have. The Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance Trees Committee is represented on the UFMP Working Group. The consulting firm to this Working Group tells us that part of what is needed is a public survey to find out how people perceive the state of the trees in our City, and how they feel trees are treated by the public and by the Urban Forestry Division.
The NCSA Trees Committee was formed because we have serious concerns about the declining tree canopy due to over-pruning, and frequent tree removals for driveways, sidewalk repair and development -- all without consideration of the overall environmental impact. Right now, it is very easy to get tree removal permission for whatever reason, and there are no efforts toward preservation of trees. Our tree canopy provides ecological services which are not considered by the City when requests for removals are submitted. There are tree replanting requirements, but saplings do not have the same environmental contribution that mature trees provide. They also require much more water, and the young trees do not have a strong survival rate.
If you have any doubts about the number of trees getting removed, please consult our early listings of UFD Tree Removal notices which we have been posting sorted by Neighborhood Council since the start of 2018. Check beyond your own NC to see the scope of the tree removals. Anyone can apply to have City trees or protected trees removed, and the request is not questioned. It is up to the public to challenge any request, and our Trees Committee offers help if you want to challenge a removal. This is a link to the tree removal listings: https://www.ncsa.la/trees
When one or two trees are requested to be removed, the city is not required to post a notice on the tree itself, so there are many more than those we see tagged. Hearings are held when more than two trees are due to be removed, but there is very short notice. If you want to object, you need to voice objections to your Council Office and the Urban Forestry Division.
This survey can be used to let the consulting firm know your concerns. We encourage you to participate in the UFMP survey and utilize the comment box at the end as an opportunity to voice your concerns about the tree situation in our City.
Link to English survey: tinyurl.com/UFMPsurvey
Link to Spanish survey: tinyurl.com/UFMPencuesta
Please share our preface and this survey with your Neighborhood Council and your network.
Joanne D'Antonio
Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, Trees Committee Chair
Sustainability Representative, Greater Valley Glen Council
NCSA Representative to the Urban Forestry Management Plan Working Group
[email protected]
(818) 387-8631
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