EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Village of Belgium has recognized the benefits that a properly maintained urban forest can provide to the quality of life, air pollution reduction, energy conservation, increased property values and reduced maintenance costs over time.  To develop a system to increase these benefits through effective management, the city contracted with Wachtel Tree to conduct an urban forest inventory and from that to develop this management plan.

This document reports the findings of the street tree inventory that was conducted in May of 2002 by Wachtel Tree Science and Service staff.  The results include:

• A total of 514 trees, 1 stump and 921 planting sites were inventoried on Belgium's street right-of-way.
• A total of 117 trees were inventoried in Belgium's park.
• A total of 6 trees on private property were identified as needing attention to protect the public right-of-way.
• The current street tree population (in the inventoried area) is 36% of full stocking.
• 35 different species make up the street tree population, with Norway maple (39%), Green ash (20%) and Linden (9%) occurring most often.
• Belgium’s trees are young with 95% of the trees in the 1 - 10" diameter range.
• The total estimated value for all street trees in the inventoried area is $109,840.00, or approximately $214.00 per tree. Being a young urban forest, a resource of this magnitude justifies expenditures for early properly managed care.

Policy recommendations, maintenance schedules and budget requirements are outlined to assist Belgium in both short and long term municipal tree maintenance planning.

Belgium has a wonderful living, growing resource that needs to be managed.  It is growing and maturing.  As it does so the maintenance needs are changing.  Now is the time to take control of these changes and costs.  When managed properly, Belgium's urban forest will increase in value.  Implementing the proposed programs will provide the village with maximum economic, aesthetic and environmental benefits from its urban forest.  This will make Belgium a more beautiful community to visit, work and live in. 

INTRODUCTION

A well maintained and managed urban forest has a lot to offer the citizens of Belgium.  Trees are working every day to improve the environment and the quality of life.

Energy savings are well documented.  Trees planted around a home can reduce cooling costs by up to 30% and windbreaks can also aid in reducing winter heating bills.  Human comfort is greatly affected by trees.  Reduction of solar radiation (creating shaded areas), focusing air movement and a lessening of air temperature (to help offset the urban "heat island" effect) with trees all help make Belgium more livable.

The quality of the air around us is improved by trees.  One acre of trees in one year can use the amount of CO₂ produced by a car traveling 26,000 miles and produce enough oxygen for 18 people for a year.  Trees trap dust particles and absorb a great variety of gasses that are harmful.  The proper placement of trees can reduce noise pollution to more tolerable levels.  Trees play an important role in reducing soil erosion, runoff and in improving rainwater recirculation.

Trees improve recreation opportunities by providing comfortable, inviting parks for a variety of activities.  They create wildlife diversity in Belgium by providing habitat for birds and small animals that otherwise would not be present.

The urban forest increases economic stability by helping to attract and keep businesses.  The National Arbor Day Foundation has reported that people will linger longer in shaded shopping areas.  Properties rent faster and have fewer turnovers in areas that are well stocked with trees.  Studies by the USDA, show that trees can add 10% or more to property values.  It is a fact that people will pay more for a property with trees.

Trees give some of the first impressions of Belgium to visitors and add intangibles to the everyday lives of its citizens.  Trees add beauty to Belgium through the softening and complementing of building's architecture and creating a pleasant environment.  Trees improve the quality of life now and will continue to do so in the future, provided they are managed to their fullest potential.

Belgium's urban forest can add great value to the community, but it can also be a liability or hazard if not taken care of.  Trees that are not managed can fall apart in storms, damaging property and interrupting electric and telephone service.  These same trees can pose a risk to people.  Unplanned plantings of large trees under utility lines lock the Utilities into long term line clearance pruning expense.  Belgium needs to plan so the best suited trees are planted.  No management is an option that always costs more in the long run.

The Village trees in Belgium are owned by every citizen.  Most other investments a Village makes depreciate in value.  A proper investment in trees increases in value for present and future generations.

Inventory System  

The street trees of Belgium were inventoried using a Microsoft Access database computer program utilizing Excel spreadsheets customized by Wachtel Tree Science and Service. The entire village was inventoried.  Belgium's inventory includes all trees, stumps and planting sites on the Village right-of-way and private trees that pose a significant hazard to people or property on the right-of-way. The following information was collected during May of 2002 in a detailed walking inventory.