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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-26-24 Public Comment - M. Kaveney - Fwd_ Comments for UPF Board tonight- 1_15_24From:Marcia Kaveney To:Agenda Subject:[EXTERNAL]Fwd: Comments for UPF Board tonight- 1/15/24 Date:Thursday, January 25, 2024 11:58:39 AM Attachments:Comments for UPF Board 1.25.24.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. corrected version: ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Marcia Kaveney <marciakaveney@gmail.com>Date: Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 11:56 AM Subject: Comments for UPF Board tonight- 1/15/24To: Agenda <agenda@bozeman.net> Dear UPF Board members- Thank you for your time and energy. In the attachment below I offer comments regarding theforestry aspects of your 2024-2026 work plan. In addition, I would like to see something about better collaboration with or channeling of "advice" to the City Commission. I may have missed it but if not, then I think this would be agood addition. Thanks again for your consideration of my comments. I look forward to the many great things this board has to offer the City. Marcia Kaveney Comments for Urban Parks and Forestry Board. 1/25/24 FOR: Further develop Branch Out Bozeman (“central hub” for Community Outreach & Educa�on, Promote and Schedule Volunteer Updates I think this is a terrific program and look forward to seeing it grow. In addition to the planting projects the collaborative partners do, I would like to also encourage involvement with the UDC update when it rolls around again to work on 1) improving the environmental codes for protection of existing trees in new developments including the allowance of new streets to be designed around an existing grove, and 2) improving the setbacks to allow for shade trees in high density and affordable housing zones. My understanding is that Branch Out Bozeman initially focuses on neighborhoods that do not have many trees and I believe this could be improved through better municipal codes, ordinances, and enforcement of those codes. Urban Forest Management Plan I look forward to the update of this plan and would like to see the public be a part of this process early and often as primary stakeholders. I would envision this as public inclusion during the various work sessions. When public input comes at the end of the process it is often too late to make any alterations to the Plan. FOR: Develop a Tree Nursery Given the immense biodiversity benefits of native trees, I would strongly encourage any tree nursery belonging to Bozeman to primarily focus native or near native species. For example, even though cottonwoods are not typically implemented as boulevard trees here in Bozeman, towns such as Choteau and Malta use them in their parks and boulevards successfully. As most of you know, they are most seen in riparian areas. Additionally, I have learned they are also relatively drought resistant with water needs mostly in the spring and early summer (our wettest time), are naturally self- pruning (requiring more picking up but less overall pruning) and can be selected for less cotton production. I believe there is a place for them and other native trees and shrubs in Bozeman’s urban forest. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has an easy-to-use native plant finder website showing the best native plants for ecosystem benefits in any given area: https://nativeplantfinder.nwf.org/Plants/Trees-and-Shrubs FOR: Update Street Tree Guide Please include more native trees in this guide. While I understand the direction the Forestry Dept. has taken to build more diversity into the boulevard tree choices while trying to move away from the dominance of Green Ash trees and their impending threats, this is another great area to introduce more native trees. I very much enjoyed the Box Elders that shaded my former front yard on N. Church St. as they produced massive shade in the summer, rarely needed pruning, never needed supplemental watering, and the box elder bugs were only a mild nuisance. According to the NWF, they can host over 120 species of insects, making them a high value biodiversity tree. I also understand that there are some Box Elder species that are smaller and more conducive to urban environments. FOR: Increase Community Outreach & Educa�on I am glad to see this on your internal plan. I would like to see more public involvement opportunities in the Branch Out Bozeman plans, the Forestry Plan update, and the new PRAT plan. I would also invite you to use this as an opportunity to investigate the opportunities through The Homegrown National Park as another tool to build biodiversity within Bozeman. https://map.homegrownnationalpark.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqsitBhDlARIsAGMR1R jvfTT2RurEHWa6rzwJh0uTjSp_STnIAQpRAg50K12zOJmCp_NJ5kIaAp2qEALw_wcB FOR: Integrate Forestry staff into Building/Planning more I think this is a terrific idea. I learned through the Canyon Gate process that there was no available staff to ground truth the application or monitor the existing forest on that property. Had there been, we might have been able to protect the existing native trees and the ecological and ecosystem services they provided. If the City does not currently have enough staff to spare for a position like that, I would like to advocate for the development of an Urban Ecologist or Urban Forester position to work on new develops to ground truth and protect existing trees as they are annexed into city boundaries. The Staff could also advocate for and help provide text for tree protection in the municipal codes. These can be updated at any time and do not have to wait for the formal UDC update. For example, trees are not currently listed under Natural Resources and there are street codes that could be modified to accommodate designing around existing groves. I would also like to see the Forestry Dept. and Parks department work more closely on protection of existing trees and lowlands as open spaces/urban forest. For example, instead of cash-in-lieu of parks, existing trees on a property could be encouraged to be set aside as open space and urban forest. This did not occur on the Canyon Gate property where the existing groves of cottonwoods, aspens, junipers, and chokecherries could have been exquisite park and open space areas while also preserving the natural landforms and stormwater drainage.