City of Saratoga Springs and Sustainable Saratoga Partner with Volunteer Tree Pruners
City of Saratoga Springs’ first volunteer tree stewards. Photo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City of Saratoga Springs and Sustainable Saratoga have announced a partnership to provide early pruning and other maintenance for young trees in the City.
The Saratoga Springs City Council has authorized two members of Sustainable Saratoga’s Urban Forestry Project, Rick Fenton and Tom Denny, to serve as the city’s first tree stewards. They will work with city arborist Steve Lashomb to perform structural pruning on city-owned trees on streets and in parks, a press release states.
“This new initiative builds on our longstanding partnership with Sustainable Saratoga and their Tree Toga plantings,” said Department of Public Works commissioner Jason Golub in the release.
“This partnership is an investment in our future,” stated Mayor Ron Kim in the release. “Tree canopies provide shade, absorb stormwater runoff, and absorb and store greenhouse gasses. By enhancing the city’s ability to cultivate and maintain the health of our young trees, we are supporting the health of the urban forest that will cool and inspire many generations of residents and visitors to our city.”
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation states that proper pruning can prevent structural defects in young trees, the release states. Structural pruning aims to create a strong trunk giving the tree strength and eliminate low branches before they grow large.
Fenton, a retired DEC Forester, notes in the release that “early pruning is low risk, low cost, and is routinely done by trained volunteers in other cities across the country.”
The City’s new Tree Steward program is modeled after one at Syracuse-Onondaga County CommuniTree, the release states.
“Using volunteers to prune young trees has been a goal since the 2013 Urban Forest Master Plan,” said city arborist Steve Lashomb in the release. “The Tree Stewards will provide great support to the work of my tree crew, and I hope Sustainable Saratoga will be able to expand the program with additional trained volunteers in future years.”