Forestry staff and Ed Olson, appearing remotely, briefed the Finance Committee on a tree‑planting and forestry-management proposal that would allocate about $110,000 to increase plantings, removals and related work.

Ed Olson described Needham’s longstanding setback planting program and said the town currently plants about 100 trees per year. He told the committee he could not provide an exact “trees added” number for the $110,000 without a formal bid but said the town would be “hypothetically to double” the annual planting count if the full amount were used for plantings. The proposal is aimed at a three‑leg planting strategy: setback plantings on private front yards (town‑planted), free trees, and open‑space plantings tied to larger rehabilitation projects such as Claxton Field, where the town will plant roughly 75 trees as part of a field rehabilitation.

Staff said the town’s three‑person certified arborist team handles planting, pruning and smaller removals but that a persistent loss of trees (including removals tied to development and pests) means current planting rates do not keep pace with losses. The $110,000 request would also allow more contractor removals for hazardous or large trees (staff said current contractor funding covers only a limited number of crane days), and the town is considering the tree‑working group and large‑house planning processes as related efforts that will inform policy and planting priorities.

Committee members asked whether the tree‑working group would issue recommendations before May town meeting; staff said appointments have been made but the working group had not yet met and would not likely have recommendations before May. Staff noted some planting work has previously used Sustainable Buildings or stormwater capital funds when projects aligned with those programs, but most of the forestry expenditures in this proposal would not be eligible for Community Preservation Committee funding because of the nature of the plantings.