Smiths Falls lost approximately 13 acres of tree canopy between 2019 and 2024, according to a report received by council during its Aug. 31 special meeting.
Planner Richard Grant said tree-canopy coverage declined from 23.77 to 23.25 per cent, attributing much of the loss to major development during the five-year period.
“Data’s not great news for us,” Coun. Chris McGuire said, adding that the closer examination will allow the town to assess the effects of recent development in the coming years.
McGuire said he would like future developments to include more street trees. He pointed to George Street, where he said no trees were included, and suggested trees could be planted in areas without overhead power lines if residents support them.
“We did that with Beckwith Street, but we’re not doing that with our residential streets,” McGuire said.
Coun. Dawn Quinn noted that a pocket forest is being planted by the REAL Deal at the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario. She encouraged residents to visit the site and consider planting pocket forests on their own properties.
Staff also corrected an error in the original 2019 assessment, which reported canopy coverage of approximately 35 per cent because some overlapping tree crowns were counted more than once. The corrected 2019 figure is 23.77 per cent.
The town’s 2024 canopy coverage remains below its long-term target of at least 30 per cent.
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Planting trees on all available Municipal property such as, parks, streets, trails etc. is the best way to increase canopy coverage.
We were able to plant a pocket forest last Fall of 23 native trees of various canopies, (with the education provided by Kingston Little Forests website)on our very small lot. We also followed the principles of the Mini Forest, prepping the forest bed with composted soil and wood chips from the Smiths Falls Compost Depot in the Spring before we planted. We lost 2 trees over the winter, but now can enjoy some of the benefits of the nature that surrounds it, such as pollinators, birds, rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels in a very natural setting. Joan Thornley