County urban-forestry staff outlines planting program, inventory and challenges including vandalism

Vincent, the county's urban-forestry staff liaison, gave commissioners a multi-part briefing on the county's tree-planting program, explaining how operations are funded, staffed and prioritized. He said the county historically planted about 900 trees per year from 2003'2010, now funds planting and watering primarily through the stormwater fund and a stormwater utility fee, and maintains a contract with Davey Trees for planting and first-year watering.

Vincent introduced acting tree-planting coordinator Chloe Kinsley and said the county has one full-time coordinator and is supported by a contractor and occasional volunteer plantings. He described administrative rules the program follows (Administrative Regulation 4.3), goals to reach 70% regionally native stock by 2035, and diversity limits (maximum 10% of any genus, 20% for Quercus/oaks). He said the county has about 19,962 publicly maintained street trees and an estimated 100,000 additional trees in parks without a full inventory yet; the inventory originates from 2003 and is being updated in a five-year circuit maintenance program.

Commissioners asked about survival rates and planting practice; Vincent said the two-year survival rate rose from about 70% before watering to roughly 80% after the program began in 2014, with a goal of 90%. He described soil-profile rebuilding as a remediation technique that mixes compost and topsoil to improve growth and highlighted partnerships and targeted low-canopy plantings in schools and parks (examples: Kenmore, Carlin Springs, Randolph, Drew, Campbell). Vincent also warned of a recent increase in tree vandalism and said incidents with video evidence can sometimes be prosecuted but prosecution is rare; he described the financial and programmatic impacts of those losses.

Looking ahead, Vincent proposed a "circuit planting" pilot to identify all suitable planting locations neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and described a door-hanger and web map to notify residents before planting. He asked commissioners to watch for draft planting lists and to provide feedback during the fall planting season.