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City forester: 500 trees planted, grant still funds next year but scope will shrink
Summary
City Forester Phil reported contractor-planted 500 trees logged into the city's GIS, said LiDAR and a tree inventory guided plantings in climate justice areas, and confirmed the US Forest Service grant still has money for next year though at a reduced scale.
Phil, the city forester, told the Michigan City Tree Board on Jan. 7 that contractors inspected and logged 500 recently planted trees into the city’s GIS after a year of fieldwork and oversight. "So we got 500 more trees in our tree population and 500 less planting spaces," he said.
The announcement followed a summer‑to‑fall planting and a simultaneous removal contract monitored by the forester. Phil said the tree inventory and a LiDAR canopy cover analysis guided decisions about where to plant, noting the grant required funds be used in Climate and Economic Justice (CEJ) areas. "Those two together form the basis of where we wanted to plant because it wasn't just looking at individual planting spaces, but the canopy covers analysis allowed us to see where there were gaps," he said.
Nut graf: The planting and removal work was paid primarily through a multi‑year US Forest Service grant and city oversight. Phil said he and city financial staff reviewed spending with the US Forest Service agent and confirmed the grant still has funds to support planting and removal next year, but that the coming season will be smaller in scale than the 500‑tree effort.
Board members and staff also discussed the decision not to bring watering operations fully in‑house after receiving three high bids. Phil said in‑house watering would have required capital investments in trucks and equipment that the grant’s equipment line item already used to buy a lift truck. He said the city explored workforce development options (hiring local workers) but ultimately hired the lowest bidder for watering this season because the equipment gap could not be bridged with available grant funds.
The report named Dogwood Hills Tree Farm of Middlebury, Indiana as the planting contractor and noted the city logged the new trees and removal sites so they can be tracked in future years. Phil said removals were prioritized by risk and targets; high‑risk removals were completed first. "When you remove 300 trees that are potential high risk trees...that's going to make the same as safer," he said.
Board members asked for follow‑up on how remaining grant funds will be allocated next year and whether a smaller planting goal can still target equity‑focused neighborhoods. Phil said staff will continue to refine the plan and return with specifics to the board.
The board did not take a separate formal vote on planting strategy at the meeting; the forester's report was presented for information and follow‑up.
