Dover Shade Tree Commission Has Deep Roots

Group celebrates 52nd anniversary with first tree study, community engagement program.

Hurd Park is a perfect place to find a leafy spot to enjoy nature. (Photo/DOVERNOW.com)

The first year of Kim Phillips’ tenure as the chair of Dover’s Shade Tree Commission is shaping up to be full of firsts for the town.

For the first time since it was founded in 1974, the commission has contracted experts to

conduct a research study of the trees and vegetation living on town-owned property. Town officials and members of the public will receive a comprehensive picture of all trees, shrubs, and other vegetation through the grant-funded study.

Phillips, who is also vice president of the town’s board of education and the head of the town’s recreational basketball team, said the study, known as a tree inventory, will provide a clearer picture for officials to make better decisions about the future of the town. But it will also provide a means for individuals to engage the commission and the community at large.

“The goal of the [tree] inventory is to give a better picture of what is within the town so we can use that information to move forward and plan accordingly,” Phillips said. “At the end of the day, it is difficult to make plans and make decisions on strategic planning when you don’t have a clear understanding of what we currently have in town.”

The study is the first step in a process that will allow members of the public and officials to collaborate on the town’s Community Forestry Management Plan – a long-term plan for how the town can better preserve and manage its tree canopy, Phillips added.

Town officials and members of the public will have access to the report's findings and will collaborate with the commission on how it manages its trees, shrubs, and, by extension, its wildlife. The group contracted the Ohio-based firm Davey Tree Expert Company to conduct the tree inventory study, which began in April.

Hurd Park is a springtime hotspot to gaze at its abundant cherry blossoms. (Photo/DOVERNOW.com)

Community engagement has become a priority for the Shade Tree Commission in recent years, as Phillips and other members have sought to get in front of the public and provide tools for residents to manage forestation in their own homes, while also spurring civic engagement among school-age children.

Phillips recently oversaw the town’s Arbor Day celebration at JFK Memorial Commons Park. The event was commemorated with a tree-planting ceremony and offered members of the public an opportunity to learn more about preserving the town’s biodiversity.

The commission is also working to collaborate with the town's school district to secure grants that would allow for planting on school grounds, but Phillips added that this project remains ongoing.

Donation Program Grows

While Phillips said the tree study and management plan are priorities this year, community engagement has become one of the commission's long-term commitments.

To that end, the organization is gearing up to launch a tree donation program later this year.

The program, which will assist residents with planting and relocating trees, will give town residents the opportunity to donate a tree to celebrate or commemorate a person or event, Phillips said. Members of the public can donate cash, which the Shade Tree Commission would use to plant trees in the future.

“Donations will go through the Shade Tree Commission,” Phillips said. “That way, we can make sure that the right tree is selected for the right location. The Shade Tree Commission will have final approval on the type of tree and the location of the tree.”

Each tree will be installed by either the town’s Department of Public Works or a designated contractor, so donors will not be responsible for physically moving or planting anything.

Donations will cover the cost of the tree and the installation.

Commissioner Craig Adams, who has been on the commission for three years, said that this initiative, alongside the commission's broader community engagement push, has helped educate residents about the importance of trees beyond just shade.

A recent statute passed in the town requires that the removal of non-hazardous trees on private property be accompanied by the planting of a new tree or a donation to a body such as the Shade Tree Commission to plant a tree elsewhere.

Dover embraces its standing as a "Tree City." (Photo/DOVERNOW.com)

“We are using that as an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of trees for

providing fresh air, absorbing stormwater, holding together dirt, and the fact that studies show that having more trees in an urban setting is correlated to happiness,” Adams said.

“We are promoting the idea that with trees, at least the ones that we care for, there are the right trees in the right place. Throughout the last 100 years, there have been fads of planting trees that look beautiful that could be from outside, like the Kwanzan cherry tree or the Callery pear, that have been proven to be a little weak, invasive, or susceptible to disease.”

That level of community engagement is also something that the Shade Tree Commission is keen on bringing to town hall.

Phillips and Adams, who is also a member of the town’s zoning board of adjustment, have

insisted that new development proposals being evaluated by the board should involve the Shade Tree Commission. The group’s site plan review subcommittee is set up to review proposals for new construction with the goal of making recommendations and submitting questions about said proposals.

“It is a newer process,” she said. “There have been site plans that did not make it to the Shade Tree Commission for review, so it is more like a work in progress. We need to improve communication with the planning board to make sure the applications are being fed to us on a regular basis and more consistently.”

The commission is attempting to focus more on this, Adams said, and added that some of the turnover on the planning board may have affected the process.

Despite the disconnect with the planning board, both Phillips and Adams believe that the tree donation program will also go a long way toward engaging members of the public and bolstering tree plantings in town.

At Hurd Park, the commission recently planted a cherry tree, but the organization is having discussions about more tree plantings to add more trees and replace some of the park’s older cherry trees, Adams added.