Tree Board

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The City of Harvard Tree Board met on February 4, 2026, to review the progress of 2025 planting initiatives and finalize strategies for 2026. The city’s urban forest, recently inventoried by the Davey Tree Company, is valued at over $5 million in replacement costs and provides approximately $21,700 in annual environmental benefits. Despite these assets, the city faces a critical shortage of volunteers, necessitating reliance on municipal staff, which incurs significant labor costs. Moving forward, the Board aims to shift from reactive to proactive maintenance, prioritize community education to increase resident buy-in, and execute upcoming training and planting events in March and May 2026. For more detail click on the 'Briefing Doc' button.

The Tree Board Meeting opened with a confirmed quorum. It included a public comment session, during which Mike Bandloff, President of the Harvard Milk Day Board, requested guidance on acceptable tree species for a memorial planting at Milky Way Park. The consensus leaned towards avoiding maples and junipers due to their excessive presence in Harvard.

The primary focus of the evening was the presentation of the Tree Inventory and Urban Forestry Management Plan by Nathan Paulus of Davey Resource Group, a project supported by a $25,000 grant from Trees Forever. The inventory covered a total of 3,639 sites, comprising 3,610 trees and 29 stumps. While the overall health of the tree population was encouragingly rated as "fair" and approaching "good," the report highlighted a critical lack of diversity. Maples dominate the streets, comprising 50% of the genus distribution along the right-of-way, far exceeding the recommended 20% limit and increasing susceptibility to invasive pests, such as the Asian Longhorned Beetle.

Nathan noted that the inventoried trees provide significant value, with an estimated replacement value exceeding $5 million and generating $21,700 in annual functional benefits. The management plan emphasizes adopting a proactive maintenance approach, recommending the immediate removal of 7 High-Risk trees (6 on streets, 1 in a park). The suggested five-year budget begins with a higher initial investment, such as $205,178 in Year 1, to tackle priority removals and establish routine pruning cycles.

Other updates included a grant discussion confirming that remaining funds from the Trees Forever IL Community Tree Planting Grant may be used to supplement the Openlands Green Region Grant planting event planned for May 2, 2026, at Lions Park. The board also approved the minutes from September 10, 2025, and officially set the quarterly meeting dates for 2026: February 4, April 1, September 2, and November 4.

The detailed inventory serves as a crucial tool, providing a factual basis for managing tree removals and enhancing public safety, thereby moving the city closer to its canopy goals.

The City of Harvard Tree Board met on September 10, 2025, to discuss several upcoming initiatives, including three grants for tree planting and removal.

 The board secured a KMED Green Region grant to plant 15 oak trees at Lions Park. The planting, originally planned for the fall, was rescheduled for May 2, 2026. This volunteer-driven project, which requires a $2,575 match, will feature five each of white, burr, and swamp white oaks.

 A separate volunteer event was scheduled for September 13 to plant 40 trees—10 at the library and 30 at private residences—through an Open Lands/Citizens Climate Lobby project. Concerns were raised regarding a lack of communication with residents who had signed up for a tree.

 The city also received a $25,000 grant from Trees Forever to remove and replace hazardous trees at 19 locations. A volunteer planting event for this project is scheduled for October 11, with the board planning to recruit high school students for community service. For locations under power lines, the board is considering smaller species like crab apples and Japanese tree lilacs.

 Other topics included concerns about the maintenance of the new food forest and plans for a November 15 fruit tree pruning event. Additionally, the board decided to plant a collection of “fostered” red buds and witch hazels this fall, but to hold onto the river birches and sycamores until spring to ensure they establish properly.

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The Harvard Tree Board's July 2nd, 2025, meeting comprehensively addressed various community greening initiatives, primarily focusing on four key grants. The McHenry County Citizens Climate Lobby Grant, also known as the Treekeepers Grant through Open Lands, offers Harvard significant flexibility due to its distant location, allowing the planting of up to 40 trees, 6 to 10 feet tall, with a 2-inch diameter, mostly balled and burlapped. This initiative targets underserved neighborhoods, including O'Brien, Hayes, and Second Street, requiring residents to commit to three years of care and attend a mandatory pre-training event. Planting is scheduled for September or October in critical reforestation areas, predominantly north of Brink Street. 

In contrast, the ICC Tree Planting Grant, administered by Trees Forever, is more structured, funding projects solely in public areas and requiring a dedicated community committee, as well as a three-year maintenance plan. Harvard is seeking this grant to replant 19 trees (13 hazardous and six others), but faces challenges as the grant prefers smaller, container-grown trees (5-10 gallons, 1-1.5-inch caliper) over balled-and-burlapped specimens. 

A related, separate grant application for removing the 13 large hazardous trees received a quote of $24,400, exceeding the grant's $20,000 maximum. Still, Power Tree Service generously offered to gift the $4,400 difference if the grant is secured. 

Finally, a significant and unexpected development was the revival of the Morton Arboretum Landscape Scale Restoration Grant, a Forest Service grant that had previously been stalled by bureaucratic language. Now funded for three years with $84,000-$85,000, this grant will enable outreach, education, and tree planting, uniquely allowing trees to be planted in private yards, which will significantly expand opportunities to increase the tree canopy by engaging the Hispanic community and local landscapers.

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