The Town of Danvers presented a Natural Resources update on March 18 as part of the Casper (Climate Action, Sustainability, Preservation and Resiliency) plan, focusing on protecting existing tree cover, encouraging tree planting and creating a full inventory and management plan for town trees.

"Goal 1.2 is to protect existing tree cover and encourage tree planting, and create an inventory and planting and management plan for all town trees," Renee Hunter, a civil engineer in the Department of Public Works, said during the presentation. Hunter said the mapping and management project is in its early stages — about 10% complete — and outlined attributes staff plan to collect (size, species, height, maintenance history, warranty information and photos).

Why it matters: Trees provide carbon sequestration, shade to reduce urban heat, stormwater mitigation, habitat for wildlife and aesthetic and public‑health benefits. A formal inventory and management program helps the Forestry Division prioritize maintenance, plan plantings, and allocate limited staffing and budget resources.

Funding and next steps: Hunter said the Forestry Division plants roughly 25 to 30 public trees per year from its operating budget, receives allocations tied to Chapter 90 paving projects, has used grants (including a $5,000 Keep America Beautiful grant in 2022 targeted at greenhouse gas mitigation) and accepts private donations for plantings. The map presented was created using existing GIS layers and has green dots for public trees and black dots for private trees; staff plan to add more detailed attributes to each mapped point.

Hunter identified the town's forestry supervisor, Travis Reardon, as a staff lead for choosing attributes to collect and building an ongoing maintenance program. She also noted Danvers' participation in Tree City USA for 35 years.

Public participation and access: Hunter said the initial mapping will be used by town staff; future tools could include public-facing maps or volunteer-assisted data collection, but staff emphasized the program would start as a town-managed resource. "We'd probably need some tree collection...a community group...to maybe help collect the trees," she said when asked about volunteer options.

No formal vote or policy change occurred; the item was an informational update and part of a continuing series of focus-area briefings by Resilient Danvers.