Tree planting officially kicks off Cheney being a Tree City

By DAVID TELLER

Staff Reporter

A new tree was planted in Sutton Park on Friday, May 29, by a group of Reid Elementary fourth-graders as Cheney takes its first steps to becoming a Tree City U.S.A.

The program, which has been a goal for Mayor Allen Gainer, is not only to plant more trees, but also take care of the ones the city currently has.

“We're finally getting it kicked off,” he said, adding that other projects have delayed initiating the program which was first introduced early last year.

Tree City U.S.A. is endorsed by the U.S. Forest Service while the Urban and Community Forestry Program of the United States Department of Agriculture provides direction, assistance, and national recognition for urban and community forestry.

On the Tree City U.S.A. website, an online poll revealed that commercial street photos of cities with trees regularly got a higher survey score than those cities that did not. It also said the benefit of a being a tree city is that it adds a lot of value, like the increase in values to both commercial and residential properties.

Gainer said the annual cost to maintaining the trees already exists in the city's budget, so there will be no new or added cost to the city.

To become a tree city, Cheney must observe Arbor Day, which in Washington state is the second Wednesday in April. Though the city did not observe it at the time, Arbor Day in Cheney was informally recognized when a tree was planted in Sutton Park.

Other criteria to becoming a tree city include creating a tree ordinance that contains guidelines for managing a community forest. The city must also dedicate $2 per capita toward maintaining existing trees, which community development director Brian Jennings said the city already spends. Lastly, a tree board or department must be created. The board would either consist of community members or city employees.

Jennings also said the city would like to establish a heritage tree program, which recognizes and preserves trees that are of significant stature or associated with significant or historical events.

The Veterans Memorial Park was founded in 1883, but it wasn't until some years later a lot of the trees in the park were planted in memory of various pioneers. Jennings said that makes the trees candidates for becoming heritage trees. Jennings said a lot of the trees on the Eastern Washington University campus and in New England Cemetery could also be heritage tree candidates.

The tree ordinance has yet to be presented to the City Council. Jennings said the council might want to make adjustments to the ordinance before approving it.

Spokane County Conversation District arborist Garth Davis said the tree planted in Sutton Park, which is about seven feet tall, is a garden rain drop crabapple tree that was raised from a seedling on the Oregon coast, but is compatible to the climate in the Cheney area.

The city also plans to replace the sun-damaged maple trees in the downtown corridor as part of the SR-904 enhancement project to the city entrance. The project is tentatively scheduled to start this summer.

David Teller can be reached at [email protected]