HOA Urban Forestry Management / 100+ tree management (CA)

Looking for resources on development an HOA/Community Association Urban Forestry Plan for managing 100+ trees.

Planned developments (especially those built within the last 50 years) have been required by local municipalities and governments to plant trees for a variety of reasons. But unlike cities which have resources - ordinances, enforcement, plans, studies, reports, technicians and experts, committees and commissions, outreach, marketing and PR - HOAs are left to figure it out after the builders planted trees.

Tree support seems to be cyclical and some advocate the many benefits while others highlight the problems which makes it hard to build consensus. The nature of volunteer board makes it hard to manage trees, as maintenance is usually short-term and some-what reactive, whereas trees require long-term planning. Another aspect is maintenance is left to landscapers - and if they have an arborist on staff, they are usually not equipped to provide informed and impartial assessment.

I'd like my community to set up an urban forest management plan and hoping another community has one so we don't have to reinvent the wheel. We have hired an independent arborist to do an inventory. Particularly in California, Southern California. Did you set up a committee? How did you get community input and buy-in? How do you plan financially - add it to the reserve study?

-Side ask: if anyone has hired a consultant landscaper to help the board manage the landscaping (long term planning, climate considerations and watering restrictions) in Southern California.

What you hired and got was a multi-year tree trimming plan with prioritization. We got a similar recommendation from the landscaping/tree trimming company with their on-staff arborist. Unfortunately, they advise to chop down several very mature trees they arbitrarily labeled as "hazardous" and offered to replant very juvenile trees in their place. They were even nice enough to offer another vendor who could come and treat the trees for pesticides and disease.

What we're after is a plan to optimize the trees in the community. Considerations of the life-span, optimizing canopies, planting the right tree in the right place, considering which trees won't be a "nuisance", will do well in drought conditions, reduce utility bills for residents. Monitor and doing targeted pruning and considerations of alternatives to cutting down a tree (where possible). Planning for the next 20 years and beyond - because trees if/when they eventually need to be cut down is costly, and you will lose the benefits a tree provides or will take decades to recoup until a new tree grows. Also, doing what we can proactively to keep trees healthy to prevent sudden problems like having large trees fall over in windstorm.

Cities do this, but there isn't support for HOAs.

https://www.fremont.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/14609/638381643230270000
https://www.fremont.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/14599/638381632596370000
https://www.fremont.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/14335/638340004465600000
https://www.fremont.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/14336/638340004571870000

Did you toss these recommendations because the arborist said something about the mature trees that you didn't like? You said they were "arbitrarily labeled" as "hazardous" - how do you know he or she wasn't telling the truth - did you ask questions as to how he/she came to this conclusion - or get a second or third opinion?

It may be no one's ever done something to the extent you're asking, so you may have to go ahead and invent the wheel. It does look like a challenge, but it doesn't have to be. Maybe you should draft a RFP that will feature the things you want, send it to several vendors and see what they come up with. You say you're hiring an independent arborist to do an inventory - how about asking him/her how to best approach this. If you pull this off, other communities will ask YOU how it was done!

One way to start is to get a little more knowlege on what's growing in your area and what some of the latest issues are, like which invasive species of bug are wrecking havoc in your area, as well as how weather trends will affect tree care (some may not believe it, but I think climate change IS a thing). Try contacting your county extension office, if there is one or the state department of natural resources. The more you know about what's going on in your area, the more specific your RFP will be. You'll also be in a better position to ask the arborist or vendor more detailed questions. Even better, if someone can walk around the community with the arborist and see what he/she is doing, that can help you better determine what you'd like to see happen in your community.