NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — City of Hutchinson Parks and Facilities Director Justin Combs said the Kansas Forest Service is going to help the city with finding out the condition of all of the trees south of 11th, as part of a grant they received.
"This spring, we're going to be working with Kansas Forest Service," Combs said. "They have a technical team. They will be coming here in the spring and doing a street by street inventory of everything south of 11th. They'll locate every tree, whether it's dead or dying or perfectly alive. They'll collect some data, GPS location, size, condition, species, all those things, really to help paint the story of how our urban canopy looks in the south half of town. That will guide the decision making on what areas do we focus on?"
They can't make the best decision on how to remedy the problem until they know its scope.
"Do we do large chunks and bring in a large contractor, do we divide it in smaller pieces and do it more locally?" Combs said. "Until we have that baseline data, we really don't have all the answers at this point."
The priorities for removal are fairly straightforward.
"First would be anything that we consider dangerous," Combs said. "If it's a large Siberian Elm that's been dead for a year or more that we're worried about, it will be our top priority. Also, looking at those species that are susceptible to some sort of insect or disease that could spread throughout the community. Emerald Ash Borer is a great one. We also have some issues with some of our pine trees, as well. Again, once we have that data, we can have that conversation with the homeowners."
Combs didn't say exactly how long the mapping process will take.
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