How Charlottetown is managing trees after Fiona, immediately and in the future

Charlottetown's urban forest, a central part of the character of the city, is a lot smaller than it was a week ago, but the recovery of that forest is taking a back seat for now.

Five days after post-tropical storm Fiona ripped across P.E.I., safety on the streets is still the priority of the city's environment and sustainability department.

"[We're] combing the streets of Charlottetown and looking for immediate concerns, so that would be road blockages, dangerous hangers over roads and sidewalks, cases where there's city trees on buildings," said acting manager Jessika Corkum-Gorrill.

The department has just three staff. Its job now is to identify those trees that are immediate trouble, and let cleanup crews know where they are.

After the first round of urgent jobs is identified the team will go around again to identify those trees where there is a potential for problems in future high winds. Many of those trees will survive with some pruning, others may have to be taken down.

'A daunting task'

At this point the team will start updating the city's forest inventory, a list of 12,000 trees including species, size and condition. 

"We've got our work cut out for us," said Corkum-Gorrill.

"Then of course there's going to be replanting, there's going to be a lot of work to restore the canopy. It's a daunting task, that's for sure."

For the most part the city will be looking after trees on its own property, but it will take an interest in the city's heritage trees on private property. Those are trees more than a metre across at the base and of five particular species: red oak, red maple, sugar maple, elm and linden.

"We want to be involved in those cases, just to make sure those big specimen trees are preserved as much as possible, which is especially important now because we did lose some of those in the storm," said Corkum-Gorrill.

Property owners in Charlottetown should also be reviewing the trees on their properties. There are some species that are of particular concern, she said.

"Some of the larger willows tend to drop their branches easily, we've seen some poplars that aren't as strong a wood, we have challenges with norway maples," she said.

If property owners have any concerns about their trees they should consult with a professional, she said.