City of Sitka, Alaska working with state forester to preserve area trees

The city of Sitka is working with the community assistance forester from the state Division of Forestry to inventory the city's tree supply, as a way to properly value and maintain as many as 1,000 trees on municipal land.

The city Parks and Recreation Department and Tree and Landscape Committee applied for a $26,000 state grant to inventory the trees on city land. Besides paying for the basic inventory of the trees, the grant covers the costs of hiring a consulting arborist to provide training and software, and ultimately an urban forest management plan.