Urban forest threatened without bylaw?

East Kildonan couple say it’s high time government make it harder for people to cut down trees

Klaus Becker admits he was moved to tears when he saw the large tree in his neighbour’s yard cut down piece by piece in late November.

And while he recognizes his neighbour is within his rights, he doesn’t understand why the City of Winnipeg won’t change that right in order to preserve more trees that make up Winnipeg’s urban forest.

“We have to do something – it has to be controlled,” said Becker, who has lived in his East Kildonan home with wife Ingeborg for nearly half a century.

“It starts with one tree and you think it doesn’t affect the planet, but when you have more than one cut down, it does. If you think of 1,000 people (cutting down their trees), that’s 1,000 trees and that is a small forest.”

Becker said he made his displeasure known to his neighbour, but knows the problem goes far beyond this small disagreement.

That’s why he called the City, his local councillor and MP to ask why nothing is being done about this problem.

Ingeborg Becker said she was hesitant when her husband first decided to contact The Herald, but now agrees that something has to be done.

“We bought this house 45 years ago because of the trees,” said Ingeborg, adding they have about more than 15 trees of different shapes and sizes on their property. “We raised our family here. We used to have 12 children playing in there.”

The Beckers said they’ve seen at least seven trees cut down just along their block.

“I can tell when I come from downtown and into our yard that the air is much cleaner,” added Ingeborg, who has volunteered at an inner-city day care for the last 15 years.

“People here are obsessed with lawns, that’s why they want to cut down the trees, to make the nice lawns, but they don’t realize what they’re doing to the planet.”

City of Winnipeg forester David Domke said it was the Coalition to Save the Elms that first came forward over a year ago with the proposal for a way to regulate the removal of trees on private property.

The City does receive calls from people upset about trees being cut, he said.

“Trees are very personal things. It isn’t a surprise if we get a call from a neighbour asking what can be done,” he said, adding right now the City of Winnipeg has no regulations regarding tree-cutting on private property.

Domke said larger urban cities like Toronto and Vancouver do have specific regulations when it comes to cutting trees, either requiring permits, if the tree is 12 inches in diameter or larger, or requiring that the trees be replaced immediately with a different species of tree.

“My job is to maintain the urban forest in the city,” he said. “In principle, we support the idea because we want to maintain the urban forest, but ultimately it’s city council’s decision.”

Rookie North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty, who was recently named chair of Mayor Sam Katz’s environmental advisory committee, said he is open to hearing the pros and cons about a tree-cutting permit system.

“Our urban forest is a tremendous resource,” said Browaty. “We want to protect trees where possible, but at the same time some of those old trees are a problem.”

Browaty said he was given specific numbers from the City’s administration that indicate five million trees are located on privately owned land.

There are another three million in natural areas, while only 110,000 trees in parks and another 162,000 on boulevards, both of which are City-owned.