City Forestry Program

City Forester

The City of Menomonie has a City Forester in the Community Services Department. This position is combined with the Parks Foreman position.

Urban Forestry Board

The City of Menomonie Urban Forestry Board was established in 1994 to oversee our landscape and Urban Forestry ordinances in an attempt to promote our urban forest and green space throughout our community that has aesthetic quality, ecological benefits, and that is responsibly maintained. The Urban Forestry Board meets monthly, view Urban Forestry Agendas & Minutes for more information. 

Tree Planting

The Community Services Department plants trees in the parks and public right-of-way annually. The City orders bare root trees in the spring and plants some immediately and the others are placed in the gravel bed tree nursery and planted in the fall. The City Forester, with input from the Urban Forestry Board, determines the species of trees to be planted. 

Tree Removals

The Community Services Department removes trees in the parks and public right-of-way annually. The majority of tree removal work is performed in the winter months. Trees are removed for several reasons including tree health, safety and vision impairments. The City is currently removing hundreds of trees due to Emerald Ash Borer infestation. 

Stump Grinding

The Community Services Department partners with a tree-service to grind some of the larger stumps from tree removals while the smaller stumps are ground by City staff. City staff performs all restoration after stump grinding. The majority of the tree removals occur during the winter therefore stump grinding is delayed until the snow melts. Many of the trees are cut high due to snow banks and City staff will return to cut them as close to the ground as possible once the snow melts to prep them for stump grinding. Stump grinding occurs spring through fall to prepare removal sites for future tree plantings.

Tree Pruning

The Community Services Department prunes trees in the parks and public right-of-way annually. Tree pruning work is performed in the winter months. The City is divided into five pruning zones. This ensures that all of our boulevard trees get maintenance and inspection on a regular, rotating basis. One zone is pruned per winter.

The Community Services Department uses the following guidelines to determine which limbs to prune:

  1. Height of the limbs over the road. Tree limbs need to be approximately 15 feet above the road surface to be clear of road maintenance equipment.
  2. Height of limbs over the sidewalk. Limbs need to be approximately 8 feet above the sidewalk to accommodate pedestrians.
  3. Limbs that may be causing sight issues. Trees or bushes that may be growing near a street corner or stop sign that could cause motorists to have problems seeing on-coming traffic or pedestrians.
  4. Tree health issues: broken, dying, crossing or rubbing limbs that may cause structural issues. The canopy may need to be thinned to provide a healthier limb structure.
  5. Overall health of the tree. Some trees have structural defects or health decline that just can’t be saved. These trees are removed and replaced with younger trees that can be trained by pruning as they grow.