City mulls restricting private tree removal

The City of Saskatoon’s efforts to protect the city’s urban forest should include large private trees on private property, a city council committee heard.

James Wood, president of the SOS (Save our Saskatchewan) Elms Coalition Inc., said Monday other cities have moved to restrict removal of large trees on private property.

City administration is currently considering the bylaws protecting trees from being damaged or removed. Wood offered six proposals to protect and maintain Saskatoon’s trees.

“Trees are very important to Saskatoon people historically,” Wood told council’s environment, utilities and corporate services committee Monday.

“Trees are a community resource and whether we like it or not what we do with our trees affects our neighbours.”

Two incidents of tree removal in 2017 showed how much Saskatoon residents care about the city’s trees.

A project to widen the Meewasin Trail next to Spadina Crescent in City Park last spring removed far more trees than many residents expected. Many expressed concern.

Nutana residents were also upset when three city trees, which were decades old, were cut down on a private lot on the corner of Saskatchewan Crescent East and 18th Street East. That incident prompted city administrators and politicians to consider harsher penalties for the unauthorized removal of trees.

Wood said the cities of Victoria and Surrey in British Columbia have restricted the removal of large privately owned trees from private properties based on their size.

“I think this is potentially controversial to consider that,” Mayor Charlie Clark said.

Clark got unanimous support for referring Wood’s recommendations to the city’s parks branch. The city owns about 110,000 trees, 60 per cent of which line streets or boulevards.

Coun. Darren Hill said he hears “regularly” from residents how much they value the city’s trees.

Hill agreed with Wood on the impact of trees on a neighbourhood. Removing a tree on his own property after he bought his house meant Hill needed to buy an air conditioner, he explained.

Wood also offered some historical perspective. When Saskatoon was first settled, a lack of wood for building houses prompted lumber to be imported from Medicine Hat, he said.