FARMINGTON — Last Friday morning, two groups of people in bright vests could be seen working near some of the trees in Meetinghouse Park. An $8,958 Project Canopy grant is being used to complete the first ever inventory of the town’s trees. The inventory will also require $4,000 of in kind services.

Throughout the summer and early fall, this will be a familiar sight as the town’s Conservation Commission continues to gather information about the trees in the right of way on twenty-four downtown streets and parts of Hippach Field. Several pieces of information about each tree is entered into the USDA Forest Service i-Tree Streets software Internet program that will then be used to better manage the towns trees.

Once completed, the tree inventory gives details on species and size as well as defects, health issues, insect damage and potential safety concerns in the town’s trees. That information would give officials and residents an idea of the value of specific trees and recommendations on how to manage them.

Rob Taylor, a teacher at Spruce Mountain Middle School (SMMS) and advisor for the Spruce Mountain Envirothon Teams, brought several of his students to the park to help. Several team members had used the Forest Service software program while preparing for this year’s current issue topic, urban and community forestry.

Commission member Sally Speich used to teach at SMMS and has kept in touch with Taylor. When she learned of his association with i-Tree Streets, Speich asked for his assistance. Taylor and two team members who had surveyed trees with i-Tree Streets met with commission members last month to help set up the parameters for the Farmington group to use.

Taylor said, “I’m preparing kids for the envirothon competition but they’re doing great community service in the process. My students are putting skills to real world use and benefiting someone.” The surveys his team members completed at Spruce Mountain Campus and for the town of Livermore Falls helped change perspective and resulted in staff looking at trees in a different way.

In the time spent looking at trees in Meetinghouse Park on Friday, it was determined that one tree had a critical concern. A dead branch in that tree, what commission member and arborist Robert Zundel referred to as a “widow maker,” will be noted separately for more immediate attention.

Bittersweet, an invasive species that can take over an area, was found growing among some of the shrubs planted along the gazebo and elsewhere in the park. Some of the smaller plants were removed immediately while larger ones will require larger tools.

Another interesting find was the presence of compression ridges on several Red Oak trees found along the Front Street edge of the park. Mark Ingrisano, the arborist operating Deep Roots Tree and Landscape Service hired to work on the survey, suggested keeping an eye on them. Most of the ridges have healed, but one tree had two or three that are still open. Neither Ingrisano or Zundel could say for certain what had caused the ridges, some of which extended ten feet up the trunk.

One tree had power lines running through it while another showed serious damage to its trunk. Zundel theorized that equipment brought in to re-surface the walkways got too close.

Others assisting last Friday morning included commission chair Peter Tracy, and Spruce Mountain High School Envirothon team members Sebastian Lombardi, Spencer Brennick, Jordy Daigle and Natalie Luce. Commission member Patty Cormier will also be helping to complete the survey.

pharnden@sunmediagroup.net