City exploring bylaw to protect trees on private property

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This article was published 20/11/2023 (705 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New rules meant to protect trees on private property could soon be headed to Winnipeg.

On Monday, council’s community services committee ordered the public service to review the city’s charter to determine how the municipal government could pursue a bylaw to achieve that goal.

“Right now, the city does not have any type of bylaw in place as it would require a city charter change to stop private property owners from cutting down their trees.… We, as council, we, as Manitobans, can’t say that trees are important to us and then have nothing in place to protect them from just being cut down without any questions asked,” said Coun. Evan Duncan, the committee’s chairman.

Council approval would be required to order the report.

Meanwhile, the committee also voted in favour of a new 20-year urban forest strategy, which now awaits council and budget votes.

The strategy states the forestry department would need to add 41.7 full-time positions and spend $60.2 million on new capital costs between 2024 and 2029 to put significant changes in place.

Key goals of the work would include expanding the city’s tree canopy, speeding up tree pruning cycles and replacing lost trees more quickly.