Municipalities manage public right-of-ways along most residential and some commercial streets. These public parkways are essential to support utilities and buffer adjoining land uses. Thriving trees on these parkways can frame a community’s character and influence property values. Some municipalities also maintain parks and open space, but separate local park districts govern recreational land and programming in most communities.
In 2006, the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), a small beetle that destroys ash trees, was found in Illinois. Ash trees are a common street tree throughout the region, offering shade, beauty and a host of environmental services to residents. Beetle infestations swept through Michigan, Ohio and Indiana years earlier wiping out community tree canopy. The region’s mayors hoped to better manage EAB with good planning, strategic management, and aggressive replanting.
The Caucus collaborated with the US Forest Service to award federal funds to help communities inventory and assess public trees; craft management plans to optimally allocate resources to protect ash trees; invest in replanting trees; and reclaim useful wood products from felled trees. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources also provided funds.
Between 2011 and 2014, the Caucus awarded 158 grants to 127 public agencies in 110 communities. The $2.4 million awarded leveraged $7.2 million local funds to remove infested trees, draft EAB management plans and engage the public. These grants resulted in 16,500 trees planted along streets and in parks, and 35 tree inventories. To assure a diverse urban forest resistant to future invasive pest threats, communities planted an average of 17 different hardy species in these planting projects. Most importantly, the grants supported the adoption of 125 EAB management plans, greatly improving local capacity to manage community trees.