Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Tree Advisory Committee met on May 14, 2026, to approve the final strategic urban forestry management plan, discuss priorities for 2026, hear a department report, and receive public comments. Key topics included woodlot management, intern funding, and strengthening developer tree preservation requirements.
Strategic Urban Forestry Management Plan: The final edited version has been approved by Common Council unanimously and submitted to the DNR to satisfy a grant requirement. Thirty-two to thirty-four volunteers contributed. The plan will serve as a five-year guiding document. Committee members thanked Anna Healy and other volunteers for their work.
2026 Priorities: The committee identified four key areas:
Department Report: Anna Healy reported on recent tree planting: Arbor Day with Urban Tree Lines (9 trees at Western Hills Park), Earth Day planting at Chicory Meadows, and ongoing street tree planting of 263 ash replacement trees (three-quarters complete). She also noted that TDS fiber optic work is proceeding and that the city is using air spading and fungicide injections to protect oak trees from oak wilt. The updated GIS tree inventory is aiding impact assessments.
Hi, I'm Jeremy Brockby, and I'm Nick Boucher. We're your hosts for the program that's all about your city. Talking Pittsburgh. Every weekday, we pull together the news, events, and information you need to stay on top of what's happening in the city of Pittsburgh. Find Talking Fitchburg on Cable TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and our live stream on the web. Plus, you can find all our headlines and stories on Facebook, YouTube, and our video on demand service. This is your city. Keep up with talking Fitzburg and the issues affecting you and your neighbors. Get connected, Fitchburg. We're launching Fitchburg Connect, the city's new monthly e-newsletter that keeps you informed about all the events, services, and updates that matter to you. Get it in your inbox once a month. Sign up today to get Fitchburg Connect. Okay, here we go. Let's call this meeting of the tree advisory committee to order to find the score of two on uh May 14th of 26. Uh first item is approval of minutes. So seconded. Okay. Uh all in favor of approving minutes. Aye. Okay. Uh minutes are approved. Um next, uh, we have public appearances for non-agenda items. So today we have a speaker, Sue Lee Strength. Just for the uh audience out in public. I'm so Easter Day, um, and I'm from the Parks Commission, and all of us here around the table have worked on something together one way or another over time. Uh and I saw on your agenda you had that you were gonna talk about focus of the committee, and I had a few things to mention from just remembering what we've talked about parks commission over a couple of years, that maybe it'll be helpful. But um one of the things would I would suggest or hope is talking with Alders and Mayor and administration about funding uh for interns. There's been the regular one summer 12-week intern, which really does a lot and uh doesn't cost as much as other staffing solutions. But um the question is could you have two? I believe there about maybe 10 years ago there was one year where there were two, and then it got cut to zero. Then it got one back to one, and it's been one all along. So uh the recog there's a recognition is there that there is too much work and not enough hours. And so uh on the one hand, the elected officials want to move the city along, whether it's more tree planting or clearing out invasives at Maga or anywhere else. Well, how does that happen when there is already not enough time to do a regular signed project? So I would just say try to keep working with others to talk about ways to add to staff. Um and it's not just summer, it's you can have semester help too during the school year for and if that's in the middle of winter, it can be office work or something because they they're not there just to go around watering trees and pulling weeds, they do some of that, but they also are there to learn and to offer the expertise that they have, and that has helped in the past. Um and then as far as uh other focus to stay with is that now that you've got the uh McGaw or the um force management plan finished, is to be mindful that at some point all this work was occurring in big part to address McGaw. Is there interesting it's to address everything, but that's the one that has been on everyone's mind for years. So now everything is just about there. And then a comment about um the way I recall parks commission addressing parking lots and trees and plantings. We only have control over what's in a park or some other chunk of land that the city owns. And the um parks commission tried to always tamp down parking lots being put inside the grassy areas. At all. So your largest parks, that's called the community park, McKee, McGaugh. They already have a lot of parking, but so just if they may they may need more, and and a case can be made for that.