Culver Tree Commission Continues Replacement Efforts

 The Culver Tree Commission met on Friday morning after some of the members returned to the lake community for the summer.

The Commission has been considering their goals for 2015 and will proceed with additional work to the Town Park along Lake Maxinkuckee.

Culver Tree Commission President Mike Stallings says some trees in the park have been identified as diseased, meaning they will need to be removed and replaced.

“There will be a number of different types of trees, flowering trees, what have you, maples and whatever put in the park,” says Maxinkuckee.

There are around 150 trees in the Town Park. Any timber needing to be removed will ultimately be replaced by the Tree Commission.

Replacement efforts are a continuation of plant removals in 2014. The Tree Commission says they are now planning to replace the diseased trees with new species. They will likely be planted in the fall of this year.

Stallings says some of the trees needing replacement were dangerous.

“This year our program will be to identify and remove some more trees, but also in the fall, we will be planting somewhere between 30 and 40 new trees to replace those trees on parkways,” says Stallings.

The Tree Commission is also preparing for Arbor Day at the end of the month.

A local tradition over the last 25 years has involved providing school children with seedlings. It’s among the requirements for keeping Culver as a “Tree City USA.” The designation comes from the Arbor Day Foundation.

The foundation says that a community must have a tree ordinance, a tree commission, and spend a certain percentage of funds on planting new trees to qualify.