Tree for Me 2019 a Big Success

Happy Recipients of Native Trees

On Saturday, May 25th, we held our second Tree for Me event at Colonel Samuel Smith Park.

In 2018, we gave residents approximately 300 trees. This year, we increased that to 446 trees.

Despite heavy rain during the early hours of the event, we had residents lining up to pick up their free trees, and walking away with big smiles on their faces. For the LBNA Volunteers, it was very rewarding to see those smiles.

The LBNA held its second annual Tree for Me event
James Maloney, MP, Jenny, Kerry, Judy, Christine and Ron

Our MP, James Maloney, even took time out from his busy schedule to attend and to see the Bird Festival that was also underway at the Park.

On behalf of the LBNA Board, we’d like to thank both the residents and the volunteers who came out for the event and we expect next year’s Tree for Me event to be even more successful.

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Long Branch Neighbourwoods© Tree Inventory

We launched our Neighbourwoods© project in Long Branch in the summer of 2018, and hired three students for the summer to be trained by and to work with Dr. Danijela Puric-Mladenovic, a professor in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Toronto.

In 2019, we decided to expand the project and hired six students.

This summer, we have hired six more summer interns to work not only on the Neighbourwoods Tree Inventory, but also to work on programs related to tree stewardship.

Building on the data we gathered in 2018 and 2019 Dr. Puric-Mladenovic is also working on measuring the overall changes in tree canopy to provide us with feedback on whether our tree canopy is declining, increasing or just staying the same.

Our goal is to have trees covering 40% of Long Branch.

Our teams of students will come to your property and ask permission to enter your yard and conduct their inventory. Among other things, they will:

  • identify the species of every tree in your yard
  • measure the size of each tree and estimate the age
  • note the location of each tree
  • evaluate the health of each tree.

If you are interested in participating in our tree inventory project and having the tree data on your property added to our database, you can just email us with your name, address and phone number so we can arrange for one of our teams of students to come around.

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We’re Hiring: Forester – Urban Forest Inventory

If you are a student, between the ages of 18 – 30 years old who loves trees; would like to work in Long Branch this summer and is going back to school in the fall we would like to hear from you!

You will be assisting the LBNA (Long Branch Neighbourhood Association) in developing an inventory of the trees in Long Branch, and educating the community on the benefits of preserving and growing our Urban Tree Canopy.

This neighbourhood was an exclusive cottage community in the late 1800’s featuring densely treed lots. Many of these trees survive today. This project will include identifying Heritage Tree nominees to join the first three which are now officially recognized by Forests Ontario in Long Branch; assisting with the Long Branch Remembers program to plant 100 trees for our Veterans in Long Branch and assisting in the preparation of displays and other educational materials about the benefits of our Urban canopy for community events including the 1st Annual Long Branch Tree Festival.

As a member of two, 2 person crews, you will accurately record the Long Branch urban forest inventory, including species and tree health data on public & private land using digital recording and mapping software. You will also identify strategic areas to plant trees. You will assist in analyzing the tree inventory data collected and prepare reports on the findings. Training and technical support / mentoring will be provided through community partnership with the Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto.

This project is funded through two Grants, one of which is from the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation and the City of Toronto and the other from a Federal Summer Student grant to the community. The LBNA encourages students in forestry-related or arboriculture programs or environmental sciences or other related programs to apply, including applicants who are women, indigenous students; members of a visible minority and new immigrants/refugees.

Interviews have begun, but it’s not too late to apply.

Position start date will be Monday, June 3 for University/College students with one position available for a high school graduating student starting beginning of July.

If you are passionate about conserving and expanding urban forests, please email your resume and cover letter with why you are interested in one of these positions as soon as possible to Judy Gibson, Chair, Tree Canopy Preservation and Enhancement Committee, Long Branch Neighbourhood Association via email: longbranchnato@gmail.com

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Weekend Runway Alternation Program: Summer Trial 2019

Last year, as part of their commitment in the Six Ideas, the GTAA  tested Idea 5: Summer Weekend Runway Alternation Program. This summer, they are moving forward with a trial of the Summer Weekend Runway Alternation Program from May to September on Saturdays and Sundays only.

This program should give residents some relief from aircraft overhead every other weekend. This means that one weekend, communities may see fewer airplanes while the next they will see the same or a few more airplanes than they currently do.

Trial Details:

  • When: Weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) from May 25/26 to September 7/8, 2019
  • Time: 6:30 a.m. to midnight
  • Scope: East/West runways only; the North/South runways are not part of the trial but will be used if weather or safety dictates
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The East-West runways will alternate to give respite to the east/ west communities except during weather conditions that force North/ South use for safety.

Long Branch residents will be most affected at the downwind leg where they turn over us, and 4 other downwind legs: Don Mills, Vaughan/Richmond Hill, and Georgetown/ Halton Hills, and the surrounding communities.

The LBNA Airport Noise Committee is only one of several community groups that have decided to monitor this summer alternation and have people complain, when their weekend is inundated by airplane noise during those times periods of respite.

HERE’s WHAT YOU CAN DO

Contact the noise complaint office at Toronto Pearson.

The GTAA has an online tool called Webtrak that gives a near-real-time view of the sky above the GTA. Residents can use it to identify the aircraft that affected them and can make a noise complaint directly from the platform. 

Submit the complaint so GTAA has the data for our neighbourhood during Summer Weekend Alternation.

Get a decibel meter app for your smartphone so you can actually measure the loudness of the airplanes going overhead. This can add invaluable data to your complaint. Some options are Sound Meter Pro for Android and Decibel X for Android or iOS.

Send emails to our MP, James Maloney, every time – day or night – that you are affected by airplane noise regardless of weather conditions.  Mr. Maloney’s office will gather this information to submit to Transport Canada, on our behalf.

Contact our Provincial and Municipal representatives to include them in this process. We are told that by their offices they have no say, but when we asked the GTAA, NAV CDA and Transport Canada, we were told that they are included and informed and our input to the Province and the City is recommended. 

Thirdly, ask elected officials to create an Ombudsman, as other countries have, to arbitrate noise complaints. This could be modelled after the Australian  Airport Ombudsman

Last, say No to night flights during the hours of at least 12am to 6:30am. As other major airports have done.

Here are links for you to reach noise complaint sites and our elected officials

Noise Complaints

GTAA Noise Complaints https://www.torontopearson.com/en/community/noise-management/noise-management-program/noise-management-office/noise-complaint

Webtrak Reporting Service https://webtrak.emsbk.com/gta

Elected Officials

James Maloney, MP                                        James.Maloney@parl.gc.ca

Christine Hogarth, MPP                                 christine.hogarth@pc.ola.org

Mark Grimes, Councillor, Ward 3               councillor_grimes@toronto.ca  

Contact us airport.noise@lbna.ca if you’d like more information.

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