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City forester to revise Sandpoint arboriculture manual; proposes tighter prohibited street-tree list
Summary
City forester Eric Bush outlined plans July 24 to update the Arboriculture/Arborist manual, favoring a short prohibited list for street trees (including maples and ash) and flexible guidance for approved species, and said the manual will reference ISA, US Forest Service, ANSI A300 and IDAPA standards.
City Forester Eric Bush told the Sandpoint Urban Forestry Commission on July 24 that he is revising the city's Arboriculture Manual and recommended emphasizing a concise prohibited street-tree list rather than an exhaustive approved list.
"My thought is it's much more important that we have a tight prohibited street tree list than a tight approved street tree list," Bush said during the meeting at City Hall. He said that a long, prescriptive approved list would exclude many suitable species and that staff should be available to advise property owners on species not listed.
Bush said he will combine existing material from Sandpoint's current manual and the more recent Urban Forestry Management Plan, consult the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) for permissions where necessary, and incorporate public-domain materials such as the U.S. Forest Service Tree Owner's Manual. He told the commission the manual will reference ANSI A300 pruning standards and relevant IDAPA rules where appropriate and that the final document must pass city legal review because the manual is cited in city code.
On prohibited species, the commission discussed a proposed restriction on the Acer genus (maples) for street-tree planting, with an option to exclude dwarf or ornamental cultivars such as Japanese maples from that prohibition. Commissioners and staff cited an inventory estimate that maples represent roughly 20'25 percent of the city's canopy and expressed concern that reliance on a single genera could magnify losses if a pest or disease arrives.
Commissioners and staff also recommended adding true ash trees to the prohibited list because of emerald ash borer risk, and discussed including species that have weak wood or storm-susceptible growth forms (for example, Bradford pear) on the prohibited list. At least one commissioner suggested removing mountain ash from the prohibited list because of its ornamental value in some locations; the group left specific species decisions to case-by-case review.
Bush said the manual will keep practical, homeowner-oriented guidance (planting, right-tree-right-place graphics, watering and maintenance) while pointing professionals to ANSI A300 and ISA best-practice materials. He proposed producing both a printable manual that includes necessary guidance and a web version that links to externally maintained documents to keep technical references current.
Commissioners asked staff to prepare a consolidated "encouraged" and "prohibited" species list that staff can share with the public and to continue refining the manual for return to the commission for review. Bush said he would send draft chapters and graphics to commissioners before the next meeting.
