City Of Woodbury Develops Tools For Tree Preservation

Press release from the City of Woodbury:

December 8, 2020

At its Nov. 10 City Council meeting, the Woodbury City Council approved an update to the city's woodland protection ordinance, bringing it to current standards and developing a tool for staff to incentivize tree preservation on developments.

The updated ordinance defines a "significant woodland" as 10,000 square feet or more of undisturbed woodland, predominantly composed of significant (greater than or equal to 6-inch diameter) and/or specimen (greater than or equal to 30-inch diameter) hardwood and/or Coniferous trees. The ordinance also established an incentive for preserving specimen trees and/or significant woodland areas. Prior to the Nov. 10 update, the ordinance only stated a penalty for removing significant and specimen trees, requiring replacement plantings of young trees on a site. The city recognizes the importance of preserving established trees when possible, providing a diversity of tree species and maturity. Staff is excited to have these additional tools to promote the preservation of established trees on developed sites.

Preservation and expansion of the city's tree canopy provides a number of environmental benefits to the community, including:

• Removal and storage of carbon from the atmosphere
• Absorption of odors and pollutants from the air
• Releasing oxygen
• Shading of streets and breaking up large impervious areas such as parking lots
• Energy conservation by planting trees strategically around a property to provide shade, reducing electrical costs
• Water conservation on lawns by reducing evaporation
• Prevention of water pollution and soil erosion

For additional information about the benefits of trees, and to learn which trees are native to Minnesota, visit the state's Department of Natural Resources' website.

This press release was produced by the City of Woodbury. The views expressed here are the author’s own.