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Patel College of Global Sustainability,
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
March 18-19, 2015
The Cost of Not Maintaining
Trees Symposium
Thank You Sponsors!
Symposium Location
Patel College of Global Sustainability
University of South Florida (USF)
11710 Maple Drive
Tampa, Florida 33620
United States
USF
Parking
Parking at Patel College or on the USF campus
requires a permit. Daily permits can be purchased
for $5.00 at pay stations on the campus or from
Parking and Transportation Services. This pass
enables you to park in daily/visitor lots only
(indicated in purple on the map).
NORTH
Registration
Register for the symposium at:
www.isa-arbor.com/costofnotmaintainingtrees
Advance registrations must be received by
Friday, March 6, 2015. After this date, only on-site
registrations will be accepted.
Hotel
Embassy Suites Hotel
USF/Busch Gardens
3705 Spectrum Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33612
United States
+1 813.977.7066
A limited number of rooms have been reserved for
symposium attendees at the Embassy Suites Hotel. To
receive the special rate of $149.00 per night*, mention
the “Tree Symposium” when making your reservation
(regular rate is over $200). Round-trip shuttle service
from the hotel to the Patel Center will be available free
of charge.
*Special room rates are guaranteed through
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 only.
CEUs
International Society of Arboriculture (ISA):
6.5 Wednesday; 6.5 Thursday
Florida Nursery, Growers, and Landscape Association
(FNGLA): 4.0 Wednesday; 4.0 Thursday
Landscape Inspector’s Association of Florida (LIAF):
4.0 Wednesday; 4.0 Thursday
Society of American Foresters (SAF):
6.5 Category 1-CF Wednesday; 5.5 Category 1-CF Thursday
Additional Information
Patel College
Fowler Ave.
If you have additional questions about the symposium,
please contact:
Wes Kocher at ISA (wkocher@isa-arbor.com)
Ken Lacasse at FUFC (ken.lacasse@secoenergy.com)
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Thursday, March 19, 2015
8:00am – 9:00am…Registration Open
8:00am – 9:00am…Registration Open
9:00am – 9:15am…Welcome
Justin Freedman, President – Florida Urban Forestry Council
9:00am – 9:15am…Welcome
Wes Kocher, Educational Development Manager – ISA
Norm Easey, Executive Director – ISA Florida Chapter
Dr. Andrew Koeser, Assistant Professor – UF / Gulf Coast
Research and Education Center
9:15am – 10:15am…You’re Spending How Much on Trees?
Dr. David Nowak, Project Leader / Research Forester – USDA
Forest Service, State University of New York College ESF
Scott Maco, Manager of Ecosystems / Research Forester –
The Davey Institute
10:15am – 11:00am…Trees Can Do That?!
Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch, Department of
Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management –
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
11:00am – 11:15am…Break
11:15am – 12:00pm…Trees Save Lives!
Dr. Geoffrey Donovan, Research Forester – US Forest Service
Pacific Northwest Research Station
9:15am – 9:45am…The Cost of Not Maintaining Trees Literature
Review
Dr. Jessica Vogt, Assistant Professor – Furman University
9:45am – 10:15am…How We Place Value on Tree Benefits
Dr. Dave Nowak, Project Leader / Research Forester – USDA
Forest Service, State University of New York College ESF
10:15am – 10:45am…Modelling Urban Forest Impacts
Dr. Geoffrey Donovan, US Forest Service – Pacific Northwest
Research Station
10:45am – 11:00am…Break
12:00pm – 1:00pm…Lunch with Exhibitors / FUFC Annual
Meeting
11:00am – 11:30am…A Formal Field Study of Mechanical
Wounding of Trees Caused by Lawn Maintenance Equipment
Dr. Justin Morgenroth, University of Canterbury – New Zealand
1:00pm – 2:00pm…Force of Impact Associated with Branch
Strikes
John Goodfellow, Expert Consultant
11:30am – 12:00pm…Structural Pruning Using ANSI Pruning
Methods
Dr. Ed Gilman, University of Florida – Gainesville
2:00pm – 5:00pm…Breakout Session Option #1
Utility Breakout
John Goodfellow, Expert Consultant
David Watford, IVM Contract Administrator – SECO Energy
Tim Lawyer, Business Development Manager – ACRT, Inc.
Perry Odom, Electric Utility Arborist – City of Tallahassee
12:00pm – 12:30pm…The Costs and Benefits of Treatment vs.
Removal of Trees Facing Noxious Yet Manageable Biotic Threats
Dr. Rich Hauer, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Breakout Session Option #2
Total Cost Analysis: From Seedling to Tree and Beyond
Rob Northrop, Extension Forester – UF / IFAS Hillsborough
County Extension
Carlos Rivero, City Planner – City of North Miami Beach
Andy Kittsley, Urban Forester – City of Orlando Parks Division
Dr. Andrew Koeser, Assistant Professor – UF / Gulf Coast
Research and Education Center
Breakout Session Option #3
Using Technology to Model Costs and Benefits
Dr. David Nowak, Project Leader / Research Forester – USDA
Forest Service, State University of New York College ESF
Dr. Shawn Landry, Research Associate Professor and Program
Director – University of South Florida School of Geosciences
and USF Water Institute
Jeremy Barrick, Deputy Chief of Forestry, Horticulture and
Natural Resources – New York City Department of Parks and
Recreation
Erin Givens, Urban Forester / Ecologist – Natural Resource
Planning Services
5:00pm – 6:30pm…Social with Exhibitors
12:30pm – 1:30pm…Lunch with Exhibitors
1:30pm – 2:00pm…Communicating the Benefits of Tree Care to
Municipal Officials
Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch, Department of Landscape
Architecture, Planning and Management – Swedish University
of Agricultural Sciences
2:00pm – 2:30pm…Milwaukee Case Study
Dave Sivyer, Forestry Services Manager – City of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin
2:30pm – 3:00pm…New York City Case Study
Jeremy Barrick, Deputy Chief of Forestry, Horticulture and
Natural Resources – NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
3:00pm – 3:15pm…Break
3:15pm – 3:45pm…The Business Case for Preventative vs.
Corrective Utility Vegetation Maintenance
John Goodfellow, Expert Consultant
3:45pm – 4:15pm…Integrated Vegetation Management Case Study
Steve Tankersley, Operations Manager of Vegetation
Management – Pacific Gas and Electric
4:15pm – 4:45pm…Saving Money and Trees Requires Planning
Mike Sherwood, Inventory Solutions Manager – Bartlett Tree
Expert Company
4:45pm – 5:00pm…Closing Remarks
Rob Northrop, Extension Forester – UF / IFAS Hillsborough County
Extension
Wednesday Presentation Abstracts
You’re Spending How Much on Trees?
Dr. David Nowak, Scott Maco
Cost benefit analysis of urban trees from a manager’s
perspective
Trees Can Do That?!
Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch
Maximizing the ecosystems services provided by urban trees
Trees Save Lives!
Dr. Geoffrey Donovan
Capitalizing on the human health and social implications for
urban trees
Force of Impact Associated with Branch Strikes
John Goodfellow
Right-of-Way Stewardship Accreditation Program Increased vigilance and increasingly aggressive vegetation
maintenance activities on transmission rights-of-way (ROW)
have the potential to dramatically alter the ecological
characteristics of existing transmission corridors and result
in unnecessarily disruptive impacts to the environment. The
industry’s response has been to establish a recognition
program intended to renew a commitment to the practice of
Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM).
Breakout Session Option #1
Utility Breakout
John Goodfellow
Force of Impact Associated with Tree Failures - This
presentation will report findings from an investigation of the
destructive potential of falling tree branches striking a target
such as overhead electric conductors, manmade structures,
and potentially people. While the work was funded by the
utility industry, the findings have relevance to other
disciplines within arboriculture.
David Watford
“Wrong Tree, Wrong Place” - Creating Alternatives for
Removals - Regulatory mandates for transmission corridors
and storm hardening requirements have driven energy
providers to aggressively take action in removing potential
vegetation threats from their easements. While alternatives
to tree removals seem few, creative utility arborists are
discovering cost effective ways to “bypass” the need to
remove large existing trees by partnering with their
engineering and construction teams.
Tim Lawyer
Trends in Utility Vegetation Management - As spring gets
sprung, we embark with fresh new focus. Learn what is
emerging in the marketplace as we continue to shape the
future. Discover trends affecting the UVM industry, with real
life examples and how they relate to safety, regulations,
training and risk management.
Perry Odom
Less is More: 18 Years Later - In 1997 Tallahassee Electric
Utility embarked on a line clearance program where trees
were trimmed only 4’-6’ away from primary voltage lines on
an 18-month trim cycle. See the results of less trimming but
more often on the canopy of Tallahassee.
Breakout Session Option #2
Total Cost Analysis: From Seedling to Tree and Beyond
Rob Northrop
Managing the Urban Forest: Adding to the diversity of
the trees planted by working with nurseries to increase
their plant palette
Carlos Rivero
Increasing the diversity of the Urban Forest Canopy:
Carlos grows a variety of trees from seed on his own and
steps up the specimens at the City nursery eventually
planning in the City’s wide medians and linear parks.
Andy Kittsley
Importance of the Tree Inventory in the Maintenance of
the Urban Tree Canopy: The inventory allows a
management plan to be developed scheduling tree
trimming, take downs and planting efficiently by need
and area utilizing both contractors and city staff.
Dr. Andrew Koeser
From initial propagation to eventual removal and
disposal, a wide array of material and energy inputs is
linked to urban trees and their care. Unlike most
“products,” trees also provide ecological benefits as they
grow. This presentation traces the carbon footprint of an
urban tree from cradle-to-grave making comparisons in
overall carbon balance based on factors and cultural
practices that influence growth and longevity.
Breakout Session Option #3
Using Technology to Model Costs and Benefits
Dr. David Nowak
Modeling Urban Forest Ecosystem Services and Costs –
This presentation will discuss the methods on how i-Tree
models ecosystem services, values and costs.
Dr. Shawn Landry
A case study and discussion of i-Tree and OpenTreeMap
use in Tampa, FL
Jeremy Barrick
Data is powerful, but is only as discerning as what goes
into the system and how thorough it is investigated.
Through relationships with DataKind and Columbia
University, NYC Parks has been able to analyze massive
data sets that provide great insight into how the routine
block pruning program relates to subsequent trends in
citizen’s service requests and work orders, as well as the
effectiveness of the Trees and Sidewalks repair program.
Erin Givens
Review of current tree inventory software to utilized to
manage urban trees
Thursday Presentation Abstracts
The Cost of Not Maintaining Trees Literature Review
Dr. Jessica Vogt
Existing urban forest literature is strongest in its
quantification and qualification of the benefits and care of
trees, and not in its ability to assess the results of lack of
investment in trees. This presentation will show the results of
a literature review on the “Costs of Not Maintaining Trees,”
commissioned by the ISA Science and Research Committee.
We summarize the literature from within the field of
arboriculture/urban forestry to answer the questions: What
are the costs of maintaining trees and the urban forest? And
what are the costs of not maintaining trees? We present a
detailed summary of the literature on the costs of
maintenance and lack of maintenance for types of tree care
commonly included in municipal budgets (planting, pruning,
removal, pest and disease management) and briefly review
less-studied types of tree care (including tree risk
management; watering; mulching; fertilizing and nutrient
management; staking, cabling and bracing; tree protection;
and infrastructure repair). Finally, we discuss current gaps in
the literature. We suggest that future literature should aim to
examine the influence of maintenance regimes on costs and
tree outcomes.
How We Place Value on Tree Benefits
Dr. Dave Nowak
Understanding the economic and environmental benefits of
trees and forests can lead to better vegetation management
and designs to optimize environmental quality and human
health for current and future generations. Quantifying the
benefits derived from trees is one of the first steps in
understanding the value of trees. While progress is being
made in quantifying several of these benefits, determining
the monetary value of the benefits can be challenging. There
are numerous means to ascribe a value to the various
benefits received from trees and forests. This presentation
will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various
ways to place monetary values on tree benefits, as well as
current limitations in understanding the overall value of
urban forests.
Modelling Urban Forest Impacts
Dr. Geoffrey Donovan
This presentation will begin by summarizing the speaker's
work on quantifying the benefits of urban trees. These
benefits range from the intuitive—increasing property values,
for example—to less intuitive benefits, such as improved
public health. Particular emphasis will be placed on the
practical implications of the research for arborists. The
presentation will also focus on how tree maintenance can
influence urban-tree benefits. For example, the speaker's
research showed that poorly maintained, view-obstructing
trees were associated with higher crime rates in Portland,
Oregon. In contrast, large, well-maintained trees were
associated with lower crime rates. Therefore, poor tree
maintenance can turn a tree into a liability rather than an
asset.
A Formal Field Study of Mechanical Wounding of Trees Caused
by Lawn Maintenance Equipment
Dr. Justin Morgenroth
Urban trees surrounded by grass are susceptible to
mechanical wounding caused by lawnmowers and
trimmers. Anecdotally, this problem appears to be
pervasive, affecting trees planted in school and university
grounds, parks, botanical gardens, golf courses, roadsides,
and any location where grass is maintained on a regular
basis. This talk presents the results of the first formal
study to document the incidence and severity of tree
damage caused by lawn maintenance equipment. The
speaker's research team will use recent field data to
explore whether land use, mowing frequency, or tree size
are correlated with the observed pattern of wounding in
surface roots and stems. This talk will conclude with a
discussion on long-term tree health and economic
implications of mechanical wounding, as well as the role
of tree protection.
Structural Pruning Using ANSI Pruning Methods
Dr. Ed Gilman
Pruning the correct live branches can have a dramatic
impact on how trees respond to gravity, wind, and ice
storms. Structural pruning designed to reduce growth rate
and weight on co-dominant limbs is the most effective
method of minimizing damage from storms. This talk will
thoroughly decipher thinning, reduction, raising, and
structural pruning. Learn how to:
• Provide the latest scientifically-based tree care to your
customers
• Contrast structural pruning with other ANSI pruning
methods on mature trees
• Combine pruning methods to meet customer
expectations
The Costs and Benefits of Treatment vs. Removal of Trees
Facing Noxious Yet Manageable Biotic Threats
Dr. Rich Hauer
This talk will focus on forest health issues that have
globally changed the way we manage a diverse urban
forest. Results from nearly 40 years of managing Dutch
elm disease (DED, Ophiostoma ulmi), and a more recent
decade with managing emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus
planipennis), show hope is warranted in the face of doom.
This talk shows how science-based research led to
developing a management approach to culture the urban
forest into the next generation of a more diverse urban
forest. The economics of urban tree management are an
integral part of this talk that demonstrates how
maintaining trees through several decades is a preferable
strategy to doing nothing, or reacting aggressively and
removing a population of susceptible tree hosts. Real life
examples from practical application and research will
show how the cost of proactive management was less
than no management.
Thursday Presentation Abstracts
Communicating the Benefits of Tree Care to Municipal Officials
Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch
Urban trees need to be well maintained to fulfill their
potential in terms of benefit provision. Poorly maintained
trees can even start producing more disservices (e.g.,
creating hazards, fallen branches, damage to
infrastructure, etc.). The importance of sound
maintenance needs to be made clear to municipal officials
– ranging from ‘tree’ officials and landscape architects, to
engineers and urban planners, but also health officers.
Communication and collaboration between scientists and
practitioners from different fields will be required. This
presentation focuses on some of the ways in which
communication and collaboration between science and
practice, and between municipal officials of different
departments and backgrounds, can be enhanced.
Examples of good practices from different parts of the
world will be discussed.
Milwaukee Case Study
Dave Sivyer
One of the most serious threats to urban and community
forests are invasive and exotic pests and diseases, ever
more pressing due to globalization and other factors, such
as drought and poor species diversification. Sixty years
after Dutch elm disease was first detected in Milwaukee
(1956), the City’s urban tree canopy (UTC) is still
recovering from the loss of 135,000 elm trees. And now,
17% of the City’s UTC is threatened by Emerald Ash Borer.
Milwaukee’s case study assessed historical changes in UTC
from leaf-on aerial and satellite imagery, and applied iTree ECO retrospectively in combination with growth
modeling and economic data to quantify the cumulative
ecosystem services benefit loss and costs attributed to
DED. This broadened understanding of the long-term
impacts and costs associated with UTC loss provides
Milwaukee and other communities with results that can
support resource and policy needs for sustainable urban
forest management.
New York City Case Study
Jeremy Barrick
With an estimated 2.5 million city trees, about 600,000 of
which are street-side, New York City Parks manages one of
the largest urban forests in the United States. Every aspect
of the operation, from planting to maintenance and
emergency response, must be efficient to be effective. The
Forestry, Horticulture & Natural Resources Division has a
long history of using GIS data to maximize efficiencies.
After experiencing several significant storm events that
resulted in significant tree damage and loss in the past five
years, GIS data was used to analyze how routine block
pruning reduces future tree hazards. As well as recognizing
the importance of structural pruning, a young street tree
pruning program has been implemented to develop more
storm-resistant trees.
The Business Case for Preventative vs. Corrective Utility
Vegetation Maintenance
John Goodfellow
The Utility Arborist Association (UAA) established the need
for a better understanding of how to determine optimum
vegetation maintenance cycle periods and the tradeoffs
between the relative costs of preventive vs. corrective
maintenance. The presenter has completed the first phase of
the research, and will offer a review of the applicable
literature on the topic, and discuss a quantitative assessment
model that was developed in the first phase of the
investigation. This initial phase of the investigation laid the
foundation for a proof of concept assessment and
demonstration. The second phase of the project is currently
under way and is intended to validate the algorithms that
were developed in the first phase of the research. The final
step will be to validate the model by completing a pilot
demonstration using data available from a participating
utility vegetation management program.
Integrated Vegetation Management Case Study
Steve Tankersley
PG&E is one of the largest combined gas and electric utilities
in the country, serving over 16 million Californians, in one of
the most diverse service areas in the world. PG&E’s electric
system consists of 134,000 miles of transmission and
distribution power lines with over 55,000,000 trees under
and adjacent to those lines with potential to conflict and
cause power outages, wildfire, and public safety concerns.
This presentation will illustrate real world contrasts where
the cost of not maintaining trees are examined from a
financial, reputational, civil, and criminal perspective.
Saving Money and Trees Requires Planning
Mike Sherwood
This presentation will focus on several case studies where
having existing inventory data and a master plan helped
organizations save money and trees when facing acute
threats such as severe weather or noxious invasive pests.
Examples are sourced through work with a variety of
institutions, botanical gardens, college campuses, and small
municipalities from across the United States.