Prince Albert Model Forest wants to grow presence in the city

Funding applications are available until September 18, which would mean the new trees would not be planted until 2026.

The city is not being asked for much beyond the $40,000 for the Model Forest but by allowing them to be the lead in a larger project, it creates a path to double the money as the FCM will provide 50 per cent of project funding.

Local donors will contribute another $5,000/year, giving the city $90,000 in money for the planting project annually. That means up to $315,000 in new grant money by the end of the seven year plan.

According to Community Canopies website, the idea is to plant the right types of trees in the right places.

Friedrechsen pointed out that some parts of Prince Albert have a lack of trees, such as The Yard District or newer residential neighbourhoods.

“We’re doing this to help enhance our urban forests, the boulevards and public spaces,” he said.

A city with a good tree canopy is more resilient to climate change and increases its financial value at the same time.

“When you have a tree-filled community, that draws investment and makes a very valuable community asset for everyone to enjoy, not just the property owner,” Friedrechsen said.

“I’m very passionate about this because it creates a legacy project. It’s something that probably I will not get to see and many of us here in this room will not get to see in the next years before those trees become mature. It’s for our children, it’s for our grandchildren, it’s for the next generations to enjoy and we all can be proud of.”

When asked, he said that while much of the money will go to planting new trees, some will be available for maintenance of the city’s current trees.

According to Yeoman, the city’s master plan calls for two trees to be planted for everyone that needs to be cut down but that has not been kept up.

“We’ve fallen well behind in our tree planting. Part of the struggle we have is we just don’t have the internal resources to manage everything and be good at everything. This is a good partnership moving forward,” he said.

He also pointed out that not replacing the trees that do get cut down will inevitably lead to no trees and it is time to start looking forward.

The types of trees they plan to plant are a variety, but given the reality of climate change, more of them will be drought tolerant.

The first three years are crucial for survival and about 30 per cent of seedlings end up dying in the first year.

Planting a tree that is surrounded by concrete shortens its life span to around 30 years, Yeoman said.

“We have to be OK with that but as soon as we take it out, we have to put it back,” Yeoman said.

Some discussion revolved around getting residents to be part of the planting process, but no firm decisions have been made.

In the last few years, the Model Forest has planted about 1,000 trees in the area it covers which includes the City of Prince Albert but also went to Shellbrook, Mistawasis and other areas.

The overall cost was low because they used small seedlings and volunteers to do the planting.

It gets higher if the trees are bigger because they cost more and require more knowledge to plant and keep alive.

The new grant money, however, would be spent planting trees inside the city.

Council passed the suggested motion to refer the item to the mayor’s office, which normally writes letters of support for organizations.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social

by Susan McNeil

Prince Albert Model Forest wants to grow presence in the city

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