[MissoulaGov] Goals for Council

Sat Feb 13 01:21:26 MST 2010

The urban forest is an interesting concept, almost a looking-glass
wanderlust to a treasured past.  I remember growing up in a small town where
outside my backdoor were a 1000 acres of unmanaged woodlands-a wonderful
time.  Now maybe a quarter of it remains, the rest developed into
high-density housing.

The suggestion of getting foresters from the government (yes, the university
is the government) or their professional advice is only part of the pie.
Forestry deals primarily with sustainable habitats on a landscape scale.
Urban forestry needs a blended approach, more toward the older traditional
view of ecology.  This approach merges forestry, horticulture and biological
concepts.  It could also incorporate composting, biomass production and a
number of other "green" concepts.  Whatever, it should be more holistic in
action and long-term in thought. 

I would certain caution against the temptation to imagine funding from
universities and other government entities.  Everyone is broke, bankrupt or
on the dole.  If you need money, go to AIG or the banks or China.  There is
certainly no more tax money to be had from us overly stressed taxpayers.
So, whatever is done has to be within our existing means.

Finally, I want to comment on your advocacy for ".a strong coalition of
folks to address our neglected urban forest."  On a quick read, the
statement infers that our urban forest has been neglected by a nefarious
force.  But then I realize that "our" is the possessive form of "we".  In
that case, the statement infers that we neglected our urban forest, which is
truer.  The solution then lies with what each of us can learn and do to care
for the piece of urban forest within our little domain on each of our blocks
in each of our neighborhoods.  That would be doing something within our
means without relying on Big Brother to save us from damnation.

Patrick

-----Original Message-----
From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com on behalf of Eric Taylor
Sent: Thu 2/11/2010 6:14 PM
To: bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Goals for Council

Hay there,
I would like to see the council take a stab at addressing our city's urban
tree situation. The outlook for the street trees in the older neighborhoods
and parks is not good over the next 25-30 yrs.

One would think that a town with a University Forestry School, a Forest
Service Regional Headquarters, a city Urban Forester, and numerous
sustainability organizations, it would be feasible to bring together a
strong coalition of folks to address our neglected urban forest.

Trees provide so many benefits to individuals, wildlife, the community, and
the environment.
A thriving urban forest would be an awesome gift to leave for our great
grand kids.
Thanks, Eric

________________________________

From: BJaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us
To: missoulagov at cmslists.com
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 12:33:12 -0700
Subject: [MissoulaGov] Goals for Council

Hi,

We are scheduled to have a discussion tomorrow afternoon regarding goals for
the council.

Here is the referral I made back in April of '07:

Hold a structured discussion regarding the goals we have for what we want to
accomplish over the next

year. Hopefully concluding with a list of tasks and some kind of action plan
for how those things will

happen.

Ed has reluctantly agreed to take up this item in COW on Wednesday.

Marilyn posted this one:

Among other things already mentioned, I want to see the city save money and
maintenance costs by increasingly using native plants and non turf areas as
much as possible. Labor and water costs make annual flowers and expansive
lawns expensive.

Where turf lawns are needed, I would like them maintained using integrated
management methods (composting, aeration, proper irrigation, prudent
herbicide applications). We asked parks for a turf management plan several
years ago- let's re-visit this. Proper management saves money.

Here are a few of mine:

I would like to see us do something meaningful in the realm of affordable
housing. Both in the area of regulation and financing.  Slow progress is
being made but I would like to see us step it up.

Sidewalks: We have got to come up with a better way to do sidewalks. The
street maintenance districts could play a role in this.

Urban Forest: We know the trees are dying. If we want to maintain one of the
most defining aspects of the character of Ward 3 we will need to take much
more aggressive action to maintain the urban forest. Maintenance districts
may also be a part of this.

I'm curious if folks have suggestions for what they would like to see the
City Council / City of Missoula accomplish in the short and long term.

Thanks,

Bob

Bob Jaffe

Missoula City Council, Ward Three

1225 South 2nd West

Missoula, MT 59801

(406) 880-2052

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