Capitol Commission outlines phased landscape plan; executive director to return with fall tree-planting and removal proposal

The Michigan State Capitol Commission discussed a phased update to the Capitol grounds landscape plan on April 7, with Executive Director Rob Blackshaw recommending a cautious, multi-year approach to tree removals and replacement plantings.

Blackshaw said the commission’s folders included three drawings: a landscape master phasing plan, a planting plan and a tree-removal plan that Beckett and Rader, the commission’s landscape architect, revised after the addition of Heritage Hall and other recent changes to the grounds. The master plan, he said, hews toward an historic layout of perimeter tree alleys and fewer interior trees ‘‘by attrition’’ while retaining public sightlines around the Capitol.

Blackshaw said the removal map contains red-highlighted areas identified as possible early removals but that those areas would be scaled back. He told commissioners he was not seeking immediate permission to begin large-scale removals and instead would return "in a month or two" with a fall planting-and-removal plan and a separate phase 2 plan for a later year so the commission could approve a more restrained, public-facing phasing schedule.

Blackshaw described the commission’s approach as long-term: "This is a project that is going to be over many, many years... it’ll take a decade to implement this probably," and added the staff will remove only trees classified as hazard trees — trees with large failing limbs or that pose imminent risk — and then replant with Michigan hardwoods.

Commissioners asked about replacement sizes; Blackshaw said recent plantings near Heritage Hall were 3- to 4-inch caliper, and in some cases up to 6-inch caliper, chosen so the specimens arrive hardy and establish more quickly. He said staff will inspect individual specimens and coordinate planting timing with the phased removal work.

At public comment, Nicole Kenway Biber, who identified herself as a tribal citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, urged the commission to prioritize Michigan native species, native shrubs and wildflower plantings where appropriate. She said native species would support pollinators and birds, reduce mowing in some areas and provide an educational, state-specific landscape character.

Blackshaw emphasized that removals will focus first on hazard trees and that he will review the removal plan with the landscape architect so fall work is limited in scope and accompanied by immediate replanting. He said staff will return with detailed phase plans for commission review and decisions.

Commissioners did not take a formal vote on the master plan or tree removals at the April 7 meeting.