Local cities seeking Tree City designation
Faced with the threat of oak wilt, a fungal disease primarily affecting oak trees, communities in Western Hays County have sought to find possible solutions — solutions that encourage support and cooperation throughout the area. For the cities of Woodcreek and Dripping Springs, attention has turned to the Tree City USA program, organized by the Arbor Day Foundation.
According to the foundation’s website, the Tree City USA program provides communities with a framework to maintain and grow their tree cover.
It also gives them an avenue to showcase their commitment to the mission of environmental change. However, to even apply, these communities have to meet a number of standards: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.
The city of Woodcreek just recently met all four standards, submitting its application to the Tree City USA program at the beginning of November. When they will hear back is uncertain, but the effort has been a long-time coming, according to Brent Pulley, Woodcreek City Council’s liaison to its tree board.
“I’ve always been interested in the Tree City USA process, and the commu- nity has been overwhelmingly in support over the years,” he explained. “We’re lucky that a lot of good things came together, and we’re able to move ahead.”
For Pulley, this initiative is not only about turning public focus to oak wilt and tree care but also about maintaining the Hill Country environment and lifestyle.
“Like a lot of people, I was interested because we don’t want to see our Hill Country get bulldozed,” he said. “But you have to take proactive steps in order to prevent that; it doesn’t just happen. It takes an effort to maintain quality of life.”
Iris Ramos, chair of the Woodcreek tree board, emphasized the environmental focus of the initiative.
“This is not about being a better tourist town or collecting titles,” she said. “It’s a way of aspiring to conserve what we have and including the community in that process. I wouldn’t be on it if it had that kind of commercial approach or motive; that would not appeal to me as an environmentalist.”
“There are really good people on this board from all walks of life, and we are all really committed to this process,” she added.
In addition to Pulley and Ramos, the Woodcreek tree board includes Monica Rasco, Vice Chair; Jacob McElroy; Terri Burney-Bisett; Dorothy Tasian; Cynthia Jones, alternate; and Nan Simpson, alternate.
“I’m just happy to be involved in what they’re going for,” McElroy said. “I’m excited to see how we grow from here, potentially getting growth awards, grants to grow our forestry and coming up with a maintenance plan to maintain healthy trees.”
“We’re all new to being on any kind of board, and we’re still getting the hang of it, learning the ropes,” he continued. “A lot of what we do now, regardless of whether or not the Tree City USA application goes through, is coming up with visions of the tree board and our goals from here on out.”
Meanwhile, Dripping Springs has just begun its own Tree City USA process, recently discussing the initiative at a workshop during the Dripping Springs City Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
Despite a thorough presentation by city staff, attendees and council members seemed to leave with more questions than answers. Concerns included balancing a tree ordinance with the rights of private property owners, determining how to enforce and execute any potential tree ordinance and whether a tree board needs to be its own separate entity — rather than assigning an existing board to the tasks of a tree board.
City liaison Pulley had his own recommendations for Dripping Springs — and any other communities looking to become a Tree City USA.
“When we were going through those initial considerations, we were really conscious of trying to get public input,” he said. “We had multiple public council meetings, sought public input and comments, and the response was overwhelmingly favorable.”
“The way we did our tree ordinance, it doesn’t really affect existing owners,” he continued. “We just clarified that heritage trees were protected and couldn’t be taken down without a good reason. What it really did was put new developers, particularly in the ETJ, on notice that you can’t just come in and bulldoze.”