LINCOLN, Nebraska (KOLN) – It’s a hot July day and 10/11 News is following a Lincoln logging crew working its way down North Cotner Boulevard, cutting down and removing several trees marked with red spray paint.

The painted numbers identify the trees as some of hundreds that the city plans to remove because they are dead, dying or dangerous in some way.

That morning, the team felled one tree after another. For forest workers, this is a constant task.

“Our job is to make sure that this canopy is not only healthy but safe,” said Maggie Stuckey-Ross, director of parks and recreation.

As of the week of August 23, there are 913 trees on that list. While that’s a lot, it’s down from the 1,200 trees that were on the list when the former Parks and Recreation director told 10/11 News the city was a year behind on cutting them down.

Stuckey-Ross inherited this list.

“We have made great progress in closing this gap,” she said.

But the list is constantly changing. City Forester Chris Myers said he wishes they were even further ahead.

This is especially true as this list becomes longer and longer during the storm season.

“But the guys are working with what they have and doing a good job of staying on top of everything that’s happening,” Myers said. “The recent high winds and the fact that we’ve had a lot of moisture this year have contributed to so many trees coming down.”

In fact, when 10/11 first interviewed Stuckey-Ross and Myers on July 25, there were 780 trees on the list of trees to be removed, down 35% from the 2021 total.

Then came July 31. Straight-line winds swept through the capital, leaving massive tree damage in their wake.

“The range is from leaf shedding to the loss of a large branch to the loss of an entire tree,” Myers said.

Following the storm, the Parks and Recreation Department received 1,356 calls regarding street trees, created 641 new work orders for all of the city’s trees, and added 133 street trees to the cut list.

The good news is that the department is now better positioned than it has been in years to meet the city’s needs, according to Stuckey-Ross.

First, they can hire private contractors to expedite the removal work. The forestry team works with two contractors, one to handle ongoing work to control the Asian ash jewel beetle in ash trees, the second to help with other trees.

“It’s helped us tremendously,” Myers said. “Especially with some of these larger, older trees that need to be cut down. In some ways, they can come in and cut things down sooner than we can, just because of our workload.”

Second, Stuckey-Ross was able to promote Myers to city forester, a position that had been eliminated due to the economic crisis in 2010.

“It’s 2024. Conditions have changed and I think our needs have changed as Lincoln continues to grow and the community expects our canopy to continue to grow,” she said.

Myers has been in office since May. His main focus is on filling vacancies.

“It made a big difference having those positions filled. It’s basically a team, a whole team,” he said.

Third, Stuckey-Ross said they have more money available. The Department’s fund for Capitol Improvement Projects has grown by more than 200% since 2021.

“CIP is investments in pruning and removing street trees, so that’s all our EAB money,” she said.

Speaking of the Asian ash beetle, Stuckey-Ross said the city is about halfway through the expected infestation cycle. They have shifted their focus from removing infested trees to treating them.

“To try to save them so that the number of dead trees that we are dealing with does not increase significantly,” Myers said.

The city does not need any more dead or dying trees on its list to be cut down, as the list of 913 trees is probably already getting longer.

“The calls are probably coming in right now,” Stuckey-Ross said.

If you have a street tree in front of your home that is scheduled for removal and has changed condition, Parks and Recreation says you can contact the Forest Service at 402-441-7847 (press 0) and request a re-inspection of the street tree.

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