Local government staff, often in the planning or public works department, are most likely to have direct knowledge of issues concerning trees. Since they carry out tree ordinances, it is important that they hear from you about real-life tree situations.

These staff members implement the decisions of elected village boards, county commissions, and city councils. They issue permits, and manage budgets. They can often answer questions or refer you to the right official.

In general, a planning department advises elected officials on projects including development on public and private property. A public works department is responsible for work on public property, such as road repairs and sidewalk replacements, that may affect trees.

Elected officials such as alderpersons, village board members, commissioners, and mayors have the power to make lasting changes to codes, laws, permits, and budgets that can drastically affect how your community takes care of trees. Elected officials represent you and need to hear from their constituents. Governing bodies often have systems to encourage public comment.

In Illinois, governing and regulatory bodies are required by law to discuss public business at public meetings, which usually include opportunities for comment from the public. Issues concerning trees often come up at meetings about zoning, planning, and development. Agendas for meetings of public bodies are required to be made public in advance, so you can check to see if there is something you would like to comment on. Attending a public meeting is a great way to learn about what is happening in your community and why some decisions are made.

At many public meetings, there are opportunities to write comments or questions down on paper. Sometimes surveys are distributed.

If you wish to make a comment at a public meeting, it can be helpful to prepare your brief (two- to three-minute) comment in advance. This will ensure that you say what you intended to say without being distracted.

Not all public meetings allow public comment. Contact the government agency’s staff and ask about the process for public comment, so you can be ready when comments are requested.

Before local governments pass new laws, they seek public comments. There is often an online form to complete. This will make your comments part of the official public record. Tree advocacy comments can be helpful during budgeting periods, discussions about specific legislation or proposed bills, and debates about zoning or development permit requirements or processes.

Public comments should be short and follow the community’s guidelines and requirements.

Both print and online editions of local newspapers typically have an opinion section. You can submit a short letter to the editor about any issue. Letters are more likely to be printed when they respond to an article that was recently published in that paper. For example, if your local paper published an article about the city council’s budget proposal, you could write a letter to the editor about how important it is that the budget include funding for tree maintenance.

Letters to the editor should be short and follow all of that newspaper’s letter submission guidelines, which you can find online.

Many trees are on private land. An important form of tree advocacy is encouraging friends and neighbors to properly care for the trees on their property, which includes watering, correct pruning, and using mulch properly. If you are comfortable doing so, share tree maintenance information with them.

Persuade your homeowners’ association to devote more money to tree planting and maintenance.

When there are public issues that affect trees, such as a proposed tree ordinance or a budget for tree maintenance, encourage neighbors to attend public meetings with you in support of trees.

If your local government has a tree board or commission to advise elected officials on tree issues, consider applying to join it. If there is no tree board, consider proposing that one be established. The National Arbor Day Foundation provides lessons on how to start a tree board at Tree Board University.

First, find out the reasons for the decision to remove this tree. Not all trees can, or should, be saved.

Note the exact address and location of the tree in question. Then contact your municipality’s public works or forestry department and ask for details about the markings on that particular tree.

Keep in mind the tree may not be owned or managed by the municipality. For example, if it is in a schoolyard it will be owned by the school district, and if it is in a park it may be owned by the park district.

Consider asking the following questions:

What does the ribbon or marking mean?
Why is the tree being taken down?
Is there anything I can do to prevent the tree from being taken down?
What is the plan for replacing this tree with new trees?
How can I find out about other trees that are being considered for removal before they are marked?

What You Can Do

Check whether your local or county government has a tree preservation ordinance or written policy that might apply to the tree. Some communities have stand-alone tree ordinances, but provisions regarding trees also may be included in zoning or stormwater ordinances.

Tree removal decisions are often made months in advance of actual removal. It may be too late to save the tree.

Whether or not your advocacy prevents the removal of this tree, it is important to use this occurrence as an example for future advocacy. You might advocate for your community to create a tree board or commission, pass a tree preservation ordinance, develop a tree management plan, or increase its forestry budget to provide better maintenance that might save more trees.

Many communities have written requirements for replacing trees that have been removed. The replacement does not always have to be in the same spot. Some communities dictate the minimum size, location, and type of tree that can be used to replace removed trees. Some communities give homeowners the chance to select replacement trees for the parkway in front of their property from a species list.

Some local governments also have tree replacement ordinances that apply to builders and developers who remove trees during construction.

While the removal of any one tree can be sad, the long-term goal is for our communities to have more trees overall. You can help by highlighting the value of trees to your local officials and advocating changes to support trees.

What You Can Do

You can advocate for changes to laws, plans, and budgets to care for trees and preserve more of them.

One way to preserve trees and promote a healthy tree canopy is through tree preservation ordinances. Such laws guide preservation, protection, maintenance, and replacement of a community’s trees. They also can protect the public from trees that pose a threat or danger due to disease or hazardous conditions.

To check whether your community has a tree law, visit the public works or forestry department section on your community’s website and search for “tree ordinance.” If your community does not have such an ordinance, or the law needs improvement, learn how to build laws to preserve trees.

Another important step is a tree management plan. A formal plan can guide communities to have trained professionals to care for trees, plant diverse species, and have the funds for tree maintenance and planning. Ask your local officials if such a plan exists, and if not, encourage your government to establish one. CRTI can supply an Urban Forest Management Plan template. You can also use the Urban Forest Management Plan Tool Kit created by the Inland Urban Forest Council to get started.

Some communities have developed tree maintenance and removal plans that include tree canopy goals, guidelines for tree care, instructions for selecting trees, and timelines for tree trimming cycles.

What You Can Do

Contact your community’s public works, planning, or forestry departments and ask for information on the tree management plan and on the process for making decisions to remove trees. If your community does not have a plan, consider advocating for it to develop and adopt one.

CRTI offers resources to help your community develop a tree management plan.

Pruning is an important part of tree care in urban areas, both to protect people’s safety and for the health of the trees. It is better to remove diseased, decayed, or damaged branches before they become a hazard, allowing the tree to recover and regrow in a healthy way. Some municipalities have a regular pruning cycle so that trees in each area are pruned every few years.

Tree trimming may look severe or disfiguring at first, but if the work is done by a trained and certified arborist, the tree will be pruned in a way that improves its health and encourages it to grow new leaves and branches.

What You Can Do

If you are concerned about tree trimming in your neighborhood, contact your municipality’s forestry, public works, or planning department. Ask the official in charge of trees to explain why the trees are being trimmed. Check that the work is being done by certified arborists. Ask whether the pruning is part of a formal tree management plan, and if not, urge your local government to adopt one.

A neighborhood typically has both private property—individual yards—and public property, such as parkways.

What You Can Do

To increase the number of trees on private property, try talking to your neighbors about planting more trees in their yards. Share resources with them, such as The Morton Arboretum’s Search Tree and Plants tree selection tool. The Arboretum’s Plant Clinic provides resources to help landowners choose trees that are right for the space and to learn proper tree maintenance.

If you are part of a homeowner’s association (HOA), consider advocating for tree plantings and maintenance to be part of your association’s annual landscape plan and budget.

To advocate for increasing the number of trees planted on public property, such as the parkway, contact your community’s public works, planning, or forestry department to find out whether there is a plan for tree planting in your neighborhood.

If there is no plan in place, work with staff and elected officials to develop one as part of a comprehensive tree management plan. CRTI provides a plan template as a place to start.

Read the Community Tree Canopy Summary for your community, and share it with your elected officials to make a case for more trees. Community Tree Canopy Summaries describe how your community’s tree canopy compares to areas around you, explains the economic benefits of your existing trees, and estimates how much plantable space there is in your community.

To build support for the development of a tree management plan or for more tree planting in  your neighborhood, consider having your HOA or neighborhood write a group letter or attend a public meeting together. More voices are louder than one!

Electric utility companies need to prune trees to keep branches clear of power lines. Tree branches that touch power lines are a major cause of power outages and can create dangerous situations.

Most communities have a franchise agreement with the electric company that establishes the company’s right to prune trees for power line safety. This agreement stipulates when a landowner needs to be warned of an upcoming tree pruning.

The best way to prevent drastic tree pruning is to avoid planting large trees under or near power lines. Some species of trees will remain small enough to avoid problems. ComEd and The Morton Arboretum have guidance for choosing and placing trees near power lines.

What You Can Do

Advocate for planting the right tree in the right place, which includes not planting large trees where their branches might contact power lines. Urge your community to implement restrictions in a tree management plan or tree ordinance to limit planting near power lines to appropriately sized species in the right place to avoid conflict with the lines. CRTI’s Tree Risk Tool Kit may also help.

Tree issues are complicated and often involve a number of stakeholders with different goals. While CRTI likely cannot speak for your specific situation, there are resources available to help you advocate for the trees in your community.

What You Can Do

Investigate what written ordinances, policies, and plans your community might have that are relevant to the situation. Read and share the Community Tree Canopy Summary for your community and share the summary with your elected officials. These summaries describe your community’s canopy coverage based on the most recently available data. They describe how your community compares to areas around you, the economic benefits of your existing trees, and how much plantable space there is in your community. You can also use the Tree Risk Tool Kit, which includes introduction letters to your elected officials.

The role of The Morton Arboretum’s Chicago Region Trees Initiative is to equip citizens to be tree advocates and speak up for trees. The program provides citizens and local officials with knowledge and tools with science-based data and tree expertise, insight on key issues, and resources for communities and individuals to develop plans, laws, and policies about trees.

What You Can Do

Improve the health of the Chicago region by becoming a tree advocate in your community. Help to educate your neighbors and elected officials. Advocate for your community to form a tree board, create a tree management plan, or pass a tree ordinance.

Join a CRTI work group on regional issues affecting trees. Volunteer in your community to help plant and care for trees. Donate to support tree planting in under-resourced communities and other important tree work.

Contact CRTI and let us know how we can help you be an informed advocate for trees.