'It's heartbreaking' Hazeldean Woods lost trees after May storm

The president of Ottawa, unable to withstand the

"His heart is breaking," says Podgorski. "The area is out of reach."

A path leading from Drainy Drive into the woods. There is a small playground on the left, but the entrance to the glade on the right attracts attention.

At first, it looks like a small clearing with dozens of trees cut down. If you look closely, it looks like a spaceship the size of two football fields has landed in the middle of the forest, strewn with layers of crushed wood.

The May 21st storm, which destroyed tree canopies in several areas of Ottawa, is at the root of the massacre in the Hazeldean Forest, but Podgorski says post-storm cleanup will clear-cut trees. I don't think it has to look like

The 70-year-old Podgorski says he has been walking in the woods for nearly 30 years. His retired teacher, he took high school students on guided tours of the forest to help them understand how special the forest is. He thinks he's walked the trail at least 1,000 times, so he knows what's there and "what's not there right now."

Hazeldean His Woods is located in the middle of the Kanata South suburbs, offering the surrounding community recreational his trails and all that comes with it, such as clean air and cool shade. Offers health benefits.

Podgorski said he was in the woods the day after the storm. Saying that, uprooting realized that the tree had fallen and was in a dangerous state. He had no doubt that the broken tree needed to be removed.

"Instead, we just cleared and mowed everything," said Podgorski. "They basically did industrial clearcutting in a very delicate and special area of ​​the forest. I couldn't believe my eyes."

Number of trees removed Judging from it, he said, it looked like a plot had been inserted into the forest.

Indeed, on Wednesday morning, those walking the forest paths thought that the city's woods were being hollowed out for new homes. (No.)

Podgorski said the city could do a better job of selectively removing trees from storm-ravaged areas, rather than cutting them down. I'm angry that I couldn't.

The city's Forestry Branch has noticed severe damage in the Hazeldean Forest, including broken roots and fallen trees.

Nearly every tree in an area was damaged, "except for some strange trees here and there," according to the forestry branch's account, published in the Kanata South Coun. Alan Hubley's Facebook page.

The Forest Service gave his three reasons for cutting trees. Public safety, access and reforestation.

Trees "unstable and posing a danger to the public" had to be left, including those that had not been felled but had dislodged roots and raised root plates to one side. The forestry department said those trees are more susceptible to severe weather conditions in the future.

In the southwest section of the park where the cedars were uprooted by the wind, the city plans to replant various tree species. increase.

Podgorski says it takes years for forests to regenerate.

"These are some of the most valuable assets we have as a city and you reap them," he said. "And to say 'I'll replant'... it will take about 100 years to put the forest back in place."

Across the Ottawa region, the full extent of derecho damage remains to be determined. Totaled.

The National Capital Commission reported that its land, including Ottawa's Greenbelt, had suffered "unprecedented damage."

"Thousands of fallen/dangerous trees affected by storms pose a direct threat to public health and safety within recreational areas along trails and paths. ', NCC spokesman Dominic Frass wrote. email.

The NCC places the highest priority on the health and safety of contractors working in the area as workers remove damaged trees.

"Given the magnitude of the damage, using normal tree cultivation models without forestry equipment would jeopardize the safety of workers," he said. said. "We aim to balance protection while relying on the least invasive approach possible." are removed only if they are in the vicinity of the affected trees, allowing contractors to safely access the area. “Leaving unsafe trees withinbusy recreational areas is not an option,” he said.

The City of Ottawa fails to quantify tree damage on city lands after storms.

According to Allison Downs, director of parks management and forestry services, "forestry workers focused on storm recovery and clean-up, cutting trees across the city.

"Staff are working to prioritize the removal of trees damaged by storm damage on City property." These removals are expected to continue into the fall, and as a result the city has not yet determined the full number of trees lost in the May storms."

Paul Johannis, president of the Canadian capital's Green Space Alliance, said the organization would like to know from the city how many trees were lost after the powerful storm.

"This is he one of the main data questions right now," Johannis said.

So far, the city has focused on damaged street trees.

"What we haven't quite settled on is what about urban forests like Hazeldine Forest and other wooded areas," Johannis said.

An imaging program for the region this year will help reveal changes in the tree canopy, but that data may not be available for another year, Yohannis said.

jwilling@postmedia.com

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