Kalispell enlists citizens to help save city trees

The 30-year anniversary of Kalispell’s title of Tree City USA came with some bad news for the future of the city’s urban forest.

Around 10,000 trees populate the boulevards, parks and street dividers of Kalispell, and the anticipated invasion of tree-loving insects could wipe out half of them in the next few years, according to Kalispell Parks Superintendent Fred Bicha.

Maple trees currently make up approximately 48 percent of the city’s urban tree population. Bicha said this is a problem because maples also are a favorite tree of the Asian long-horned beetle, an invasive insect that currently exists in several of Montana’s neighboring states and threatens to move in within the next several years.

The emerald ash borer, another even more aggressive invasive insect, also threatens to spread to Montana with the potential to decimate the state’s population of ash trees.

These two new bugs are slowly making their way closer to the state’s borders, and, combined with various diseases and natural phenomena, could spell disaster for the trees that give Kalispell such a unique atmosphere.

“You go down Fifth Avenue East and you see a pretty amazing cathedral look that’s unique to Kalispell,” Bicha said. “I’ve actually heard of people choosing to live here because of the trees.”

According to Bicha, the city’s urban trees are worth more than just their beauty and visual aesthetic.

Healthy trees, according to Kalispell’s urban forestry website, improve property values, help with heating and cooling, provide animal habitats, better water and air quality, reduce noise, provide long-term storage of carbon dioxide and improve overall human health.

IN A preemptive effort to preserve the diversity of both Kalispell and surrounding cities’ inventory of trees, park departments across the Flathead Valley have begun identifying hazardous and dying trees and removing them with plans to replace them with younger trees of different species.

On average, Kalispell’s Parks and Recreation Department plants between 25 and 30 trees each year.

In hopes of increasing this number and boosting tree diversity, the city has implemented a 50/50 cost share program. The program allows citizens wanting to plant trees on city property near their homes to split the cost of the tree in exchange for sharing the responsibility of maintenance.

According to Street Tree Committee member Terence Richmond, the honor of Tree City is given to cities that meet a national standard of health and management of their urban forests.

Richmond said the Street Tree Committee’s goal is to encourage a variety of plantings in order to get to a point where the city has no more than 20 percent of any one tree species.

That way, Richmond said, should something happen to one species of tree, 80 percent would remain unaffected.

“If we intend to leave our children a beautiful city as our grandparents did for us, now is the time to begin,” Richmond said.

The committee’s goals for the urban forest include the pruning of every tree in Kalispell’s urban forest every five years and encouraging citizens with room for trees to plant a variety of species, with the exception of maples and ashes.

Kalispell’s urban forestry website identifies the ideal time to plant as either in the fall after leaves have dropped, or in early spring before bud break when trees are still dormant. Weather conditions at these times are generally cool and allow plants to establish new roots before summer’s hotter, harsher conditions.

The site encourages citizens to locate all underground utilities prior to digging and planting.

According to Richmond, other ways citizens can get actively involved in protecting their trees include being on the lookout and reporting any unusual insects, watering and pruning trees surrounding their homes and limiting the use of chemicals and salts used during colder winter months that can permeate the ground and affect tree health.

IN AN ongoing effort to get the city’s youth involved in the future of Kalispell’s urban forest, 365 Kalispell third-graders will be joining together with other volunteers to plant 20 new trees at the Kidsports Complex off U.S. 93 in celebration of Arbor Day today.

Other Arbor Day celebrations and plantings will also be occurring across the Flathead Valley.

In Whitefish, Muldown Elementary students will be planting new trees in Memorial Park. Columbia Falls will host its Arbor Day Celebration Friday, May 5 at Columbus Park. The Forest Service, DNRC and Glacier Gateway Fifth Grade Class will be hosting a tree planting.

Kalispell’s formal Arbor Day ceremony will take place at Lawrence Park on Friday at 1 p.m.

FOR ADDITIONAL information on growing, planting and maintaining the city’s trees, visit the following sites:

- Montana Urban Community Forestry Association at http://mucfa.com

- Kalispell Urban Forestry at http://kalispell.com/parks_and_recreation/parks_urban.php

- Tree City USA at https://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCityUSA/index.cfm

Contact local utility services prior to digging at 1-800-424-5555.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.