By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle

Planting new trees, conducting tree inventory, and purchasing a new wood chipper are on the horizon for Oliver and a new Community Canopy Grant may help cover the costs. 

Oliver approved applying for grant funding to help increase and maintain the tree canopy in Oliver, with the potential to cover up to 50 per cent of the associated costs.  

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) recently launched a new program called the Growing Canada’s Community Canopies Program. This program is supporting communities trying to plant new trees in various ways in municipalities such as street tree planting, urban planting, park tree planting, flood prone areas, and forest restoration/reforestation. 

The FCM will cover 50 per cent of eligible costs with a minimum cost of $50,000. The town supported submitting the application to the program, and approved a total project of up to $139,500. 

This project breaks down over three years to spending $40,000 in 2025, $66,500 in 2026, and $30,000 in 2027. The majority of this application and the associated projects were already included in the town’s five-year financial plan. 

Out of the $139,500, $109,500 was already included in the plan. The only additional expenditure is $30,000 to be contributed in 2026 for a new wood chipper. 

The new wood chipper will have a total cost of $80,000, if successful the grant program will cover $50,000 of the purchase. 

Sean Kennedy, manager of Public Works explained to council that the town’s current wood chipper is approximately 25-30 years old and has “seen its day”.  

The proposed plan for 2025 would include tree inventory updates, tree risk mitigation, tree removal and planting site preparation, tree planting, and general tree maintenance totalling $40,000 

Adam Goodwin, project coordinator for the town of Oliver noted that conducting this work aligns with multiple current Town of Oliver policy initiatives.

Making a case for the project, Goodwin explained in his report that the project checks the boxes for an “affordable comfortable community” in that trees can provide more places for people to cool down while enjoying the outdoors in the hot climate. 

It also checks the box for a “social development priority” by providing more places to cool down for individuals who cannot afford air conditioning. The project also contributes to a “more walkable community” in that it will provide shade during warm parts of the day so people can actively transport through the town. 

Other factors that make this a priority are the recently approved community energy and emissions reduction plan which identified the importance of tree canopy to meeting the community’s climate related goals. 

The town is also currently participating with other governments in the region to identify communities vulnerable to extreme heat and a stronger tree canopy will be a recommendation in the extreme heat plan. 

The Town of Oliver manages an urban forest of around 1,200 – 1,250 trees and the town’s urban forestry management plan maintains and enhances the tree canopy while managing risk. 

The funding will allow the town to “supplement and expand its current operational contributions to its management of Oliver’s urban forest.” This would include not only planting new trees to contribute to a healthy tree canopy but also having the tools to effectively manage the trees.

The town conducted a tree inventory project in 2011, but Goodwin explained in his report that over the past five to 15 years, changes in environmental trends and residential watering habits have created a decline in the urban forest. 

“Increased trends of more drastic freeze/ thaw cycles, higher than average temperatures, longer periods of drought, and water conservation measures can be attributed to the factors creating this decline.”

Tree maintenance throughout this time has been a lower priority item and updating equipment has not been prioritized. More funding will allow the purchase of the new equipment making management more efficient and safer.