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Forestry Division
The Forestry Division is responsible for the maintenance of the City's street trees, ornamental plantings, and forest properties. The City’s urban canopy plays many roles in improving daily life. It provides shade which not only makes it more enjoyable to be outside on hot days, but also reduces temperature control costs for homeowners. It also absorbs stormwater to reduce flooding risks, filters air pollution, stores carbon, provides habitat for wildlife, raises property values, and much more.
This is why the Forestry Division works hard not only to ensure public safety through tree removals and pruning, but also to address tree health concerns and plant new trees. If you have a question regarding the condition of a tree located in the City right-of-way or if you would like us to consider planting a tree at a specific location, please submit your request through the SeeClickFix reporting application.
- Brown Woods, located on Union Street north of Griffin
- Prentiss Woods, located on Grandview near Bangor High
- Essex Woods, located near Essex on Grandview
- The Rolland F. Perry City Forest, located near Stillwater off Tripp Lane
The City's trail system also includes areas along the Kenduskeag Stream from downtown Bangor to above the I-95 bridge. View the Parks & Rec Trails page to access maps of these properties and the trail systems that they include.
The Forestry Division maintains all trees within public rights-of-way, in public parks and cemeteries, and on the grounds of City facilities and schools. Service requests for any of these trees can be placed through SeeClickFix.
The width of public rights-of-way vary depending on the street. To determine the width of a right of way you can use the City of Bangor Parcel Viewer. Type in the address of interest in the search bar, then use the measurement tool in the toolbar at the bottom of the application to measure the distance from one side of the road to the other to determine the right-of-way width. If you are still uncertain you can contact the Forestry Division for verification.
Maintenance services for the publicly owned trees in the City include:
Pruning—The Forestry Division maintains a 14-foot vertical clearance along all roadways and an 8-foot vertical clearance along sidewalks. This requires pruning public or private tree branches that encroach on those clearances. Pruning is also performed to maintain line of sight at intersections, and to provide ease of access for other Public Works services.
Planting—It is important to continue to plant trees on public property in Bangor so that residents can continue to benefit from the services they provide long into the future. The goal of the Forestry Division is to plant more trees than are removed each year to maintain and increase canopy coverage in the City. New and replacement trees are planted in the City rights-of-way each spring and fall. This planting schedule has shown the best long-term results for tree survival. It is also important to plant trees in areas where they will be successful long-term, so for this reason the Forestry Division cannot plant trees that grow to larger sizes in narrow rights-of-way or under utility lines. You can find the list of approved trees for planting here Version Options Forestry Division Headline, where they are sorted into size-category. If a tree is removed, it is automatically put on a list to be replaced, however, residents can request specific trees be planted in public rights-of-way near their homes.
Removing—Trees can become hazardous for a number of reasons. They can contract diseases, be infested by insects, be damaged by storms, or simply lose their structural integrity with age or through bad pruning. If a tree is suspected to be hazardous it is inspected by the Forestry Division’s certified arborists, who perform an ISA Risk Assessment. If the tree meets the criteria for removal on that risk assessment, it is removed either by the Forestry Division or by a contracted arborist, depending on its location. If it does not, then it is left standing and inspected quarterly for changes. City residents are not permitted to hire arborists to remove or prune publicly owned trees that are encroaching on their property per the City’s Tree Ordinance.
Tree inspections—Trees can suffer from a variety of diseases and pests, as well as from environmental changes. If you are concerned about a tree, you can request to have a member of the Forestry Division come to inspect it.
Stump grinding—Once a City tree is removed, the Forestry Division contracts a stump grinding service to remove the stump so that other trees can be planted. The Forestry Division then comes and vacuums the leftover grindings, fills in the hole with loam, and reseeds it with grass. Residents are not responsible for removing grindings or filling in holes left by stump grinding.
All of these services can be requested by submitting a report through SeeClickFix.