Growing "A City Within A Park"

A Conversation with the City Arborist

A bird’s-eye view of Westerville reveals a thriving City nestled in a blanket of trees. It’s one of the many reasons the community is referred to as “a City within a Park.” This isn’t some stump speech, Westerville has deep roots when it comes to protecting our tree canopy.

Westerville is one of only 16 communities in the country to be recognized by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a “Tree City USA” for 46 consecutive years. The City is also a “Tree Line USA” (24 years), has received Tree City Growth Awards (12 years) and has been named to the list of “Tree Cities of the World” (three years).

“Trees have always been important to Westerville and that has helped to shape the community,” said City Arborist and Parks Manager Adam Williams.

Adam Williams, City Arborist and Parks Manager

Williams’ team maintains every tree park and street tree in this City. He’s sharing what it takes to maintain an award-winning tree canopy in a thriving community.

Q. How are Cities chosen for these awards?

A. • Tree City USA- A community must meet four criteria that include having both a board or department that oversees the forestry operations and a community tree ordinance, spending $2 per capita on urban forestry and by celebrating Arbor Day.

• Tree Line USA - A community must provide quality tree care and annual worker training, conduct tree planting and public education, have a tree-based energy conservation program and have an Arbor Day celebration/tree planting.

• Tree City Growth Award - Growth awards are earned by adding new programs, educating the community, enhancing operations and keeping a tree inventory, or significantly changing the current ones.

• Tree Cities of the World - Criteria are the same as Tree City USA but include the creation of a tree inventory that can be utilized to help manage the urban forest resource.

Q. City Urban Forestry has been accredited by The Society of Municipal Arborists (SMA) since 2015. What are the requirements to receive this honor?

A. SMA Accreditation is the highest honor for municipal urban forestry programs. To obtain this honor takes a professional and compassionate approach to tree care. SMA accredited programs must have an ISA Certified Arborist on staff, an approved Local Forest Master Plan, a Tree City USA growth award certification, show private contract preference for TCIA accredited tree care companies, adhere to ANSI standards for safety and performance, and follow SMA’s Code of Ethics.

Q. It seems that tracking trees in the City is a requirement for many awards and recognitions. How does Westerville track its trees?

A. We can track all trees that are maintained by the City. These include street, public and park trees. A map is available at www. westerville.org/urbanforesty that allows you to view information about these trees including species, condition, trunk diameter and mature tree height. Quantities of our top ten species are reported every month to ensure we stay within the 10-20-30 rule which suggests an urban tree population should include no more than 10% of any one species, 20% of any one genus or 30% of any one family.

Q. How many trees do we have in Westerville?

A. We currently have 5,000 parks and facilities trees and 15,000 street trees inventoried. With many more trees in our woodlands and green spaces that are not currently tracked.

Q. On average, how many new trees are planted each year?

A. We average 300 new ball and burlapped trees of two inch diameter planted annually and approximately 3,000 saplings. Approximately 1.5% of our inventory, or 250-300 trees, are replacement trees.

Q. Westerville has some very large trees. Are there ways to track these, as well?

A. Yes. We offer a Heritage Tree program. A Heritage Tree is the largest tree of its species within the City of Westerville limits. The tree must be a species native to the United States or introduced to this country more than 100 years ago. The objective of the Heritage Tree program is to identify and assist in the preservation of these trees.

Q. How many Heritage Trees are in the City and how do they get nominated?

A. Currently, we have 62 Heritage trees. Residents are encouraged to nominate a tree for the Heritage Tree program at www.westerville.org/urbanforestry.

Did you Know?

A complete list of City-owned trees is available at www.westerville.org/trees and includes information on each tree including tree type, size and when it was planted (if available).

For more information about the Arbor Day Foundation or the Tree City USA awards, visit www.arborday.org.