Crews are cutting trees all over Harvard. In November, the Massachusetts Highway Department cut brush and trees back to the original stone walls on Mass. Ave. from the Boxborough line almost to Westward Orchards’ farm stand. According to Tree Warden Christian Bilodeau, the state targeted that section of Mass. Ave. because shade from the trees kept ice from melting during winter, requiring heavy salting, which led to salt residue in wells in the area.
Bilodeau said that former Tree Warden Mark Finnegan “keeps his eyes open” and called him on the work being done. Bilodeau checked out the work, he said, and tried to stop the crews from cutting large trees, even though that stretch of road is outside the town’s control.
(Photo by Laura Andrews)
In December, Asplundh’s orange trucks and cherry pickers topped the two ash trees at the entrance to the transfer station, two of nearly 400 trees the company plans to remove to protect National Grid’s wires, Bilodeau said. He looked at 100 trees on the list and most of the trees, around 85 percent, he said, are ash and suffer from ash tree decline. The others are “random dead pine and other trees.”
Bilodeau estimated that this tree work would cost the town around $100,000 if it had to pay the bill. National Grid pays Asplundh to trim branches that interfere with power lines or cut down dead trees that could bring lines down when the trees fall. That saves the town the expense of felling many dead roadside trees before they become dangerous, Bilodeau said.
The tree-cutting crews, according to Asplundh’s website, are sent all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Where the crew comes from determines how well the work fits Harvard’s needs, Bilodeau said. For example, he said, several years ago the crew came from Texas and cut too freely in Shaker Village. Now the Asplundh crews know that Harvard is sensitive about its trees, Bilodeau said, and the crew leader calls him to let him know where and when tree work is going on.
When trees not on National Grid’s list need to be removed, Bilodeau said he calls in privately owned tree services, which is expensive.
Replacing trees
With an annual budget of $15,000 for trees, Bilodeau said, it is not possible to replace many of the trees that are cut down. He spends $5,000 to $6,000 of his budget on the elm trees in town center and uses the balance on the rest of Harvard’s trees. Other money is made available from the Elm Fund and the Harvard Conservation Trust Tree Fund. “Donations to the Trust’s tree fund will go a long way to replanting trees that are currently being removed,” Bilodeau said, such as the ones cut in late December at the Prospect Hill Road overlook.
Trees have also been given to the town for Arbor Day planting by the Conservation Trust, by National Grid, and by individuals, according to Finnegan. He said that for eight years he and Bilodeau have helped the town’s first-graders plant donated trees on Arbor Day.
He also worked for three years to obtain the national designation Tree City U.S.A. to become eligible for state and federal grants for new trees and maintenance. One grant helped landscape Harvard Park, but too much administrative time was required to renew the application every year, he said, and the town hasn’t applied for more grants.
