Decatur Says Recent Storm Damage Lessened Due to City's Tree Removal Program

Many trees in city-owned public spaces were spared serious damage in last week’s storms because the city has aggressively monitored the health of its trees.

There are lots of old trees in the City of Decatur. But fewer of them because the city proactively removes between five and 10 potentially hazardous trees annually. Unhealthy trees are a greater risk and may fall during severe storms, such as the one last week.

When trees fall, they potentially imperil lives. They also cause damage to things including cars and homes. Several resident's faced downed trees last week but none were on city-owned property.

According to the city’s tree consultant, urban forester Ed Macie, Decatur has been proactively removing unhealthy trees.

“It’s more of a practice than a program,” said Macie. “It’s a pretty informal approach.”

If a city employee or resident suspects a tree is unhealthy, Macie investigates.

“The city will then call me to take a look at the tree and give them recommendations on either some remedial practices to the tree to reduce the risk for failure,” the arborist said.

And then, he takes action, whether it’s to cut down part of the tree or an entire removal recommendation, if there's no other way to save the tree. 

Assistant City Manager Tony Parker credits David Junger, assistant city manager for public works for beefing up the practice over the past four years.

“We noticed an increase in the number of tropical storms plus the usual thunderstorm activity,” said Parker. “We noticed that the city was losing a lot of trees."

He added, "When they fall they can cause a lot of property damage."

Macie pointed out that Decatur fared significantly better than neighboring Druid Hills during last week’s storms.

“I give Decatur a lot of credit for being proactive with this thing,” said Macie. “If you saw what happened in Druid Hills neighborhood ... the trees were just flying everywhere in that storm.”

Once the City of Decatur removes a tree, it ultimately gets replaced. Sometimes the replacement trees don’t go exactly where the older trees were located.

“The tree may not go back in the same space because the space wasn’t suitable to start with for a large tree,” said Macie.

He estimates that for every tree removed by the city, ten more are planted. Decatur’s tree-lined streets define much of the community’s character.

Trees Atlanta also plays a big part in keeping Decatur's tree-lined streets just that, lined with magnolias, oaks and other species.

“Decatur is a city full of trees and we love our trees," Parker said.