livingfeature
L I K E A N O A S I S O N T H E D E S E R T, Lethbridge is canopied with a treed
skyline, surrounded by a sea of prairie grassland. The river bottom hosts an
ancient forest of cottonwoods, their seedlings transplanted into backyards and
city boulevards on the hills above. Providing beauty, shade, and shelter, some
of our trees stretch over 100 feet high, and their boughs span 100 feet across.
Remarkably, it was the city’s first residents who transported, planted, watered,
and nurtured most of the trees in our city for future generations to enjoy and
appreciate.
Local certified arborist Maureen Sexsmith-West has been cataloguing many
of these old, unique and magnificent trees throughout the city. She has been a
champion on behalf of the trees in the community that deserve not only great
care, but also to be showcased as important landmarks.
“When I go to a yard and see a spectacular tree, I’ll note it and keep track of
it,” Maureen says. She keeps in contact with the owner of that tree and adds it to
a growing list of heritage trees on her Google Map entitled Heritage Tree Tour–
Lethbridge, and to her Facebook page, Lethbridge Heritage Trees.
“The province has funded a variety of initiatives [to catalogue heritage trees in
Alberta] over the years, one of them being the Alberta Trees of Renown project.
They published a booklet, but that program ended years ago. In 2006, the Heritage
Tree Foundation was struck and continued to add to that list of trees,” explains
Maureen. “I was on the steering committee, assisting to verify and measure the
trees that were nominated from our region. Of the 900 nominations, only 600
met the criteria and were accepted.”
The definition of a heritage tree is not exclusive to trees that
are big or old. Through a nomination form, residents can
nominate a tree based on its characteristics: its uniqueness,
rarity, incorporation into a park sensitive area, or even its
connection to the community, among other features.
A number of Lethbridge’s heritage trees
can be found at Henderson Lake park
and Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden.
The Federation of Alberta Naturalists published the book Heritage Trees of
Alberta in 2008. “The intent of the program was to provide people a way to
nominate trees and to preserve our heritage trees, but soon after the book was
published, the program fizzled,” says Maureen.
Since the provincial program dried up, communities such as Medicine Hat
and Calgary continue to catalogue and map their own heritage trees, but for
Lethbridge, Maureen’s initiative is the first comprehensive project specific to the
city’s heritage trees. “Using the same concept that communities like the City of
Surrey in B.C. use, we hope to bring more people together and to grow the list of
our own heritage trees,” says Maureen.
The definition of a heritage tree is not exclusive to trees that are big or
old. Through a nomination form, residents can nominate a tree based on its
characteristics: its uniqueness, rarity, incorporation into a park sensitive area, or
even its connection to the community, among other features.
Maureen also admits that just because a tree is old, that doesn’t make it
special. “I want to know why that tree is special–what the story is behind the
tree. It’s as important to gather the stories behind these trees as much as it is the
measurements. I believe it is the community’s engagement with our trees that is
most important.”
LETHBRIDGELIVING.COM
JAN-FEB 2016
39