Tree Additions & Removals

Have you ever wondered how many trees are added and removed in the West Fargo Park system? The Forestry Department works on a budget to add trees, receives donations for trees planted as memorials, and grants are sought out to add to our park forests. Tree removals occur when trees suffer severe storm damage, die out due to disease, fluctuating moisture and drainage, or to make way for new buildings and infrastructure improvements. Here is a breakdown of trees added to our park system in the last 3 years.

With tree additions come removals in some cases. The winter of 2022-23 was a harsh one for our trees with high snow heights giving hungry rabbits access to many crab trees in our more southern neighborhood parks. Most of these trees get replaced and using lessons learned, we choose varieties that are of a more animal-resistant species for these areas.

Park improvements also will call for tree removals. Last season, a grouping of Green Ash trees in the shelterbelt in North Elmwood Park was removed for a new walking path heading from the ball fields to the north playground loop. The good news here is the trees will need thinning out with the threat of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle in the future and new varieties of trees were added back in to diversify the forest as well as be more able to thrive in the soils and conditions of the area going forward.

2024 is shaping up to be a big year for our Forestry department as we will be adding 52 trees to the park system through a grant awarded by the North Dakota Forest Service as well as 100 trees being planned for Rendezvous Park in an improvement project. These trees will all be contractor-installed trees and our forestry staff is planning many more additions to parks this planting season.  The Forestry staff is always at the ready to plant memorial trees as requested as well. As we grow, our additions are adding up.