City planted almost as many trees as it removed last year

For the first time more than a decade, the City of Winnipeg planted almost as many public trees as it lost in 2024, falling just 24 short of its one-to-one replacement goal.

With 6,508 trees removed and 6,484 planted, the city’s forestry department managed to avert a long-term trend that saw Winnipeg lose hundreds or thousands more than it added each year, since at least 2014.

“In some years, we’ve had 5,000 trees… (in) deficit. So, to (nearly) reach, I’ll call it a milestone, of a one-to-one ratio is great news. I think it should be the floor, it should be the new normal,” said Christian Cassidy of Trees Winnipeg, a non-profit advocacy group.

For decades, Winnipeg’s canopy has thinned out, with the city planting far fewer trees on public land than it lost to natural death, severe weather, development and disease. Between 2014 and 2024, 59,576 public trees were lost and just 31,557 were planted, for an overall loss of 28,019, city data shows.

Cassidy said large, mature trees are a signature of Winnipeg and should be protected due to their esthetic value, ability to absorb excess water and store carbon.

He credits the city with making tree planting a higher priority in recent years.

“We’re just starting to see the results,” he said.

Since the majority of Winnipeg trees grow on private land and are not managed by the city, more must be done to boost the overall canopy, said Cassidy.

“If we’re talking about trying to fill some of that tree deficit, or add hundreds of thousands of trees over the next (few decades), it’s everybody’s responsibility…. The city (alone) is not going to tree-plant us out of this,” he said.

Winnipeg’s forestry strategy aims to expand the local tree canopy to cover 24 per cent of the city, up from 17 per cent, by 2065.

Cassidy said he hopes landowners, schools and other organizations will launch planting initiatives of their own. He said the city would also benefit from finally implementing a tree protection bylaw.

The city has pondered such a bylaw since at least 2022, which would potentially create fines for damaging or removing protected trees on private property and natural areas. In December 2023, city council approved an urban forest strategy that recommends the new bylaw.

However, a long-awaited report with options to actually add a bylaw isn’t expected until later this year, the city confirmed.

St. Vital Coun. Bran Mayes said he’s hopeful council will vote on a bylaw soon, noting the city’s goal to ramp up housing construction could mean many additional tree removals.

“If you were going to be taking down trees to put up new housing… we need more (protections),” said Mayes.

The councillor said he expects a bylaw would need to include fines for people who cut down protected trees.

“I would hope that it would have some teeth…. In the Glenwood area we’ve lost a ton of trees (in recent years),” he said.

The head of council’s community services committee said a bylaw proposal is taking time to complete, since multiple city policies would be affected.

Coun. Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) said any new rules must be considered with the impact on property rights in mind.

“When we start looking at private land, developers, homeowners… are we looking at (requiring that) every homeowner pulls a permit to cut down an apple tree, if they want to? Those conversations need to happen and I think proper consultation is really important.”

Meanwhile, a neighbourhood group is raising money in an effort to prevent more trees from being killed by Dutch elm disease. Wolseley Residents’ Association has launched a “Help Save Our Elms” project to raise money to inoculate elm trees against the disease.

Cassidy said it’s great to see concerned residents work to save trees but it would be very expensive for the city to complete similar inoculations throughout Winnipeg.

“You’re looking at (hundreds of dollars) per tree. The inoculation lasts for three years and then you have to do it again…. It’s a tough call for the city,” he said.

A city spokeswoman said inoculations are not part of the city’s program.

“We manage (Dutch elm disease) on a large scale, therefore our efforts are better directed towards timely sanitation and elm bark beetle control. These are the strongest components in reducing the spread of DED and preserving the canopy,” Julie Dooley wrote in an email.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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