HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-10-24 Public Comment - A. Kociolek - Public Comment for Dec 10th CC Meeting _ And related to UPF BoardFrom:Angela Kociolek
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment for Dec 10th CC Meeting / And related to UPF Board
Date:Monday, December 9, 2024 12:39:53 PM
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Dear Mayor Cunningham, Deputy Mayor Morrison, and Commissioners Bode, Fischer and
Madgic,
The Bozeman Tree Coalition (BTC) is in favor of 12/10/24 Consent Item F.7 - to sign aProfessional Services Agreement with Green Infrastructure Center for Tree Canopy Coaching.
Branch Out Bozeman, a partnership between the City of Bozeman Forestry Division and
Gallatin Watershed Council, is an excellent example of the City stepping into anenvironmental stewardship role. We applaud City Forester Alex Norquest for his leadership in
thoughtfully expanding Bozeman’s urban forest canopy, where appropriate, and with an eyetowards rectifying tree inequity.
A tree canopy expansion effort in any City must acknowledge:
1. Price tag: Planting trees gets expensive fast and will require multiple financial partners to
significantly expand tree canopy cover. A Branch Out Bozeman tree canopy workshop in thesummer of 2023 estimated a 3% increase in canopy cover could cost $10 million over the
course of a decade. Planting trees is worth it but that is predicated on the notion that thosetrees would be additive not replacement trees for those cut down for development.
2. The implicit and explicit value of existing green infrastructure assets: Bozeman's Forest
Management Plan promotes public education about the importance of protecting andcelebrating our urban forest, which is the sum total of all public and private trees combined.
Indeed, Matt Lee of the Green Infrastructure Center, the same consultant as in thisProfessional Services Agreement, was quoted in BTC’s recent Pecha Kucha talk on the
subject, “Trees are the only infrastructure where the value of them appreciates over timeversus everything else - pipes, wire, roads depreciate ... trees are only ones that gain in
economic, ecological and social value.”
Upon your approval of Consent Item F.7 tonight, we thank you, the Commission, for joiningus in the spirit of planting new trees to expand our existing urban forest for the cumulative
health and ecosystem services it provides to us all.
Sincerely,
Bozeman Tree Coalition founding members Angie Kociolek, Daniel Carty, Lara Schulz, ChrisMcqueary, and Marcia Kaveney
CC: Mitch Overton, Alex Nordquest, UPF Advisory Board