Documenting St Augustine tree inventory

The City of St Augustine is spending $12,000 to hire a Board Certified Arborist to provide an initial tree inventory that will be used to learn more about the city’s urban forest, its health, and what should be done to protect it.

The project provides recommended maintenance practices for the City Manager, allocation of tree maintenance resources, and documents the existing tree inventory.

“Certainly, an important part of St Augustine’s ambiance and environmental health is the tree canopy present throughout the city,” Paul Williamson told Historic City News. “An assessment of the 500+ trees, located within the historic areas of St Augustine’s rights-of-way and parks, is long overdue.”

The City received a federal Urban and Community Forestry grant, provided through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which provided $6,000 of the total cost.

“The city intends to use the baseline data obtained to develop an urban forestry management program that will include guidance for the city maintenance supervisor,” Williamson told reporters.