[Mpls] chipping the trees

[mplsgordon2 at aol.com]

Liz Wielinski wrote:

>From listening to Mike Schmidt the GM for  Operations at the MPRB burning is 
not the only solution.  Apparently if the  trees are run through a chipper 
the resulting chips are not a viable home for  the fungus or the beetles.  This 
is the method the MPRB is currently  employing.   The $2.5 million a year that 
the Minneapolis Tree  Commission recommends for the MPRB forestry budget 
would hire more people and  buy the equipment (including the chippers) the MPRB 
would need to keep the Urban  Forest healthy.<
 
Liz is right; chipping is an alternative to burning, as is using debarkers. 
 
In either case, we have to haul the logs to the equipment, which is noisy  
and generates a certain amount of pollution. Then we have to figure out what to  
do with the remainder; I suspect we will have a lot more wood chips than we 
have  flower beds in which to put them. Of course, there is ash left over from  
burning, but it's much less in volume and weight.
 
Burning does work best, and it's the least expensive method. However, I  
doubt MPCA, and some citizens, would allow it. So, chipping and/or debarking  will 
probably be the method.
 
M. G. Stinnett
Jordan