WINNIPEG, MB - September 27, 2012 - The City of Winnipeg is encouraging its residents to celebrate National Forestry Week, September 23 - 29, by learning more about Winnipeg's trees. With approximately 8 million trees in the city, most Winnipeggers have daily interaction with their urban forest yet may not realize that the city holds a number of tree related distinctions amongst North American communities.
"Winnipeg has been the North American leader in Dutch elm disease management for over 37 years," says Martha Barwinsky, City Forester, Public Works Department. "No other city in North America has maintained such a long-term program to preserve and protect its urban forest. Winnipeggers and staff in the City's Urban Forestry Branch are very connected to the trees in their community and feel a duty to help maintain and protect them."
Winnipeg has a history of community involvement in the care of its urban forest - demonstrated at this time of year by community tree banding efforts, managed by Trees Winnipeg (formerly Coalition to Save the Elms) in partnership with the City of Winnipeg. Tree banding protects trees from the damage caused by cankerworms.
The City of Winnipeg has implemented tree diversity guidelines in which all boulevard tree plantings in new developments shall include no more than 30 per cent of any one genus of tree. Tree diversity is a key component of long-term stability of the urban forest whereby greater diversity reduces the risk of catastrophic losses from insect or disease pests.
Winnipeg Tree Facts:
- The total number of boulevard and park trees in Winnipeg is approximately 280,000.
- The Urban Forestry Branch plants 1,400 trees on average each year on boulevard and park property.
- Winnipeg shade trees can have a life span of 200 years.
- Winnipeg holds the distinction of having the largest remaining mature urban elm forest in North America with approximately 140,000 elms.
- Winnipeg has the largest indigenous population of bur oak in any city in Western Canada. Bur oak is the only oak species native to the Canadian prairies.
- The first ornamental tree plantings in the City of Winnipeg date back to about the late 1860s, but boulevard planting did not become general practice until around the early 1900s. Examples of these plantings can be seen in downtown Winnipeg, River Heights and St. Boniface.
Residents are reminded that under The Forest Health Protection Act (Manitoba), it is illegal to store elm wood and elm pruning is prohibited from April 1 to July 31. These measures are in place to protect our urban elm forest from Dutch elm disease.
For more information on National Forestry Week, visit: http://www.canadianforestry.com/html/outreach/forest_week_e.html
For more information on the Urban Forestry Branch and how you can help preserve Winnipeg's urban forest, visit: winnipeg.ca/publicworks/Forestry/forestry.asp