Sophisticated tree
inventory to enhance
forestry management
Expertise, information and technology
are giving Oak Park a powerful new tool to better manage the community’s
urban forest. When internationally recognized tree expert Mark Duntemann
finishes walking every street in the Village — probably by late
October — he will have identified by species, measured, assessed
the health and noted the location of every single one of Oak Park’s
some 20,000 parkway trees.
But the Village walkabout is just the
beginning. The information Duntemann will have entered into his
handheld computer tablet will be combined with five years of existing
in-house data on pruning, plantings and removals, creating a
comprehensive historical computer database that will guide
future care and renewal of the Village’s trees.
The data will be managed through a computer
software program called Canopy, a sophisticated tree management system that can
maintain information and maintenance records on an unlimited
number of trees. Canopy can apply the latest International Society
of Arboriculture (ISA) Tree Appraisal Formula to calculate the
value of individual trees should they be damaged by
construction or weather; allow for easy updates of maintenance
records; automatically create lists for replacements following
removals; analyze up to 25 different factors affecting specific
trees; and more easily monitor problem trees and species.
Purchased with a state grant, the software
program also will interface with most standard Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), which create sophisticated data
management tools from sources such as maps, aerial photos,
satellites and surveys.
As the inventory is being completed,
Duntemann, who heads the Worchester, Vermont-based forestry
consulting firm of Natural Path Urban Forestry, will train the
Village’s own arborists to maintain and update the
database.
The Village expects to see the first
practical application of the new system in its budget for next
year’s tree trimming contracts. When contracts are let
for trimming, the Forestry Division will know exactly what the
costs should be since fees are based on tree measurements, data
that already will be contained in the inventory system. Another
application with near immediate value will be the information
to select trees for future planting based on the existing
species mix and site conditions.
For more information on the new tree
inventory management system, contact the Forestry Division of
the Public Works Department at 358.5700 or email publicworks@oak-park.us.
Public Works News
Employees prepare for emergencies
Public Works Department employees
participated in a two-day training course last month to learn
how to prepare for and respond to terrorism acts. Offered by
the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center
(NERRTC) of Texas A&M University, in partnership with the
U.S. Department of Justice, the curriculum, entitled
“Public Works: Preparing for and Responding to
Terrorism/Weapons of Mass Destruction,” focused on the
challenges Public Works staff and other emergency responders
could face in a terrorist event. For information on the Village
emergency preparedness planning, visit www.oak-park.us. Click on news, then
the “emergency preparedness” icon along the
right-hand column.
Instant rebate available on energy
efficient products
Residents who purchase selected energy
efficient products from selected local merchants may be
eligible for a $10 in-store instant rebate. Products eligible
for the rebate include compact fluorescent light bulbs, winter
window cover kits, gas water heater blankets, heavy duty timers
for air conditioners, heaters and appliances, outdoor motion sensor
lights and programmable thermostats. For more information on
this program call 358.5707.
New Lighting Expanded
A test of new lighting technology that uses
in-ground induction lamp studs to illuminate crosswalks has
been expanded to Grove Avenue between Harrison Street and
Jackson Boulevard. The lights, which use hermetically sealed
studs that are impervious to road salt and vehicle traffic,
have been in use at the intersection of Harvard and Oak Park
avenues for several months. The low power consumption
technology transfers electrical power from one device to
another without the need for any physical connection and has a
life expectancy of 100,000 hours. To learn more call 358.5720.