May 20, 2022

Winnipeg
5° C, Overcast

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • The Star
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Day Pass
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
The Free Press
Articles Read
Your Balance +tax
Day Pass Till
Day Pass
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Report an Error
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
    • Staff Biographies
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • Log in
    • Create Account
    • Help
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
    • My Account
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Change Password
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
Log in Create Account Contact Us
Contact Us Manage Subscription
  • Sections
  • Local
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Diversions
    • Environment
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Health
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Soccer
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • E-Edition
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Automotive
    • Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Real Estate
    • Rentals
    • Services
  • Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Manitoba’s Top Employers
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print
    • Ripley's Aquariums
    • The Bay
    • Staples Canada
    • Altitude Sports
    • Nike
    • Tuango
    • Ebay Canada
    • Sport Chek
    • Roots
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe$1.50 for 5 months
Home Local

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Pruning tree-trimming budget threatens urban forest, city councillor says

By: Aldo Santin
Posted: 5:48 PM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later
JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS</p><p>The parks division reallocated part of the 2016 tree-pruning budget to deal with the Dutch elm disease-control program.</p></p>

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

The parks division reallocated part of the 2016 tree-pruning budget to deal with the Dutch elm disease-control program.

Questions are being asked about how city hall is spending part of its budget after a new report revealed that the parks division pruned several thousand fewer trees in 2016 than the previous year.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 1/8/2017 (1752 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Questions are being asked about how city hall is spending part of its budget after a new report revealed that the parks division pruned several thousand fewer trees in 2016 than the previous year.

The 2017 community trends and performance report notes that the city’s forestry division pruned 13,723 trees in 2016, down from 17,715 the year before. The amount of tree pruning done in 2016 was almost half of what it had been in 2014, when 24,495 trees were pruned.

Council authorized $4.9 million for tree pruning in 2016 but new data reveals the city spent $4.6 million.

"That’s a front-line service cut," Coun. Russ Wyatt said. "The mayor and EPC promised there would be no front-line service cuts with the last budget. Clearly here is another example of a front-line service cut."

Wyatt (Transcona) said it’s recognized by the city’s forestry officials that regular tree pruning is essential to maintaining healthy trees. He said the city has gone from a schedule of pruning individual trees once every nine years to once in every 22 years.

The community trends and performance report — an annual document that charts department initiatives — says the industry standard for communities is to prune 14 per cent of their urban forest annually but Winnipeg did only 4.5 per cent in 2016 (down from 8.2 per cent in 2014). In comparison, the report notes that Edmonton pruned 16 per cent of its trees in 2016.

"There have been major cuts to the tree-trimming budget," Wyatt said. "This speaks to our ability to maintain a healthy urban forest and Winnipeg city council does not give this a priority at this point. The last city council did. This council is choosing not to."

Wyatt said city officials admitted this week they can't keep up with the loss of elm trees caused by Dutch elm disease and the city faces another threat to its trees from the Emerald ash borer beetle.

A civic spokeswoman said the parks division reallocated part of the 2016 tree-pruning budget to deal with the Dutch elm disease control program and that additional funds were reallocated to clean up after a July 2016 storm.

Coun. Ross Eadie said financial information provided to him recently by civic officials in preparation for the 2018 budget revealed that the forestry division overspent its approved 2016 budget by about $1 million; council approved a budget of $38.175 million but the amount spent was $39.116 million.

Eadie (Mynarski) said the numbers also showed the dollar amount cut from tree-pruning in 2016 almost matched an over-expenditure for spending on the Dutch elm disease program.

The Free Press | Newsletter

Winnipeg Gardener

What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. A monthly email from the Free Press with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.

Sign up for Winnipeg Gardener
Sign Up

Eadie said that while new suburbs have been added across the city, council has essentially frozen the parks and forestry budget at the same funding amounts for the past three years, about $38 million annually.

"There are no more efficiencies to be found any more," Eadie said. "The parks people are managing what they can. You have to take from one place to deal with an unexpected issue."

Wyatt said the community trends and performance report notes that the city is losing more trees every year to disease (9,419 lost to Dutch elm and other issues in 2016) than it’s replacing (2,757 trees planted in 2016).

Wyatt said council has to recognize that protecting the city’s parks and urban forest deserves the same attention as that given to its roads.

"Parks and trees are one of those things they call soft infrastructure which, in my view, is just as important as the hard infrastructure, like roads and sewers," he said. "The soft infrastructure gives us the quality of life and the enjoyment of living in an urban environment. If you lose that or if that’s harmed, your quality of life goes down. There’s no doubt about it."

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund
  • The Free Press is certified by

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top