 The Division of Urban Forestry performs tree maintenance on all trees growing within the City owned right-of-way (public roadways), City parks, cemeteries, school grounds, public building grounds and all other land owned by the City.
Trees located on the following are NOT maintained or managed by the Division of Urban Forestry:
- Land designated as Conservation Land (under the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission)
- Land under the control of the Newton Housing Authority.
- Trees along roadways designated as private ways and/or “paper streets”
- Trees along Route 9 and Route 90 (“Mass Pike”)
- Trees located on private property (go to certifiedtreeandlawn.org to find a certified professional tree company)
If you are uncertain that a tree is the responsibility of the Division of Urban Forestry please do not hesitate to contact us Submitting a Request For Service or by email at urbanforestry@newtonma.gov or by phone at (617) 796-1530.
Information Regarding
Currently Open Service Requests
The Division of Urban Forestry works hard to make the most of the resources it has. With over 26,000 street trees and an estimated 50,000 trees on nearly 1000 acres of City property it is a daunting task. Despite our best efforts we are not always able to complete the work in a time frame that is satisfactory to our customers.
We apologize if the wait time for service exceeds the length of time you wish to wait. Three years ago, in 2009, our costs skyrocketed overnight due to State regulatory changes. This increase in cost reduced our pruning work to twenty days a year, resulting in a backlog of over 1,200 requests.
Starting this year the City has made a significant change and investment in the future of the City’s trees. For the first time in over twenty years the City will have its own qualified tree work professionals. This change will save the City 270% per hour verses using contracted tree services.
It will take the Division of Urban Forestry some time to get caught up with backlog of service requests that built up since 2009. It is our goal to have this backlog eliminated by the year 2015. We prioritize this work primarily based on safety using the U. S. D. A. Forest Service’s Risk Tree Analysis System. Locations that are determined to be the greatest risk are given a higher priority. After risk potential we prioritize our work based on the age of the request and location.
Below are links to our current backlog list, one for service requests for pruning and one for service requests for removal. Please be advised that we receive between 2,000 and 3,000 service requests annually. The locations on this list are the most up to date information we have at the time the lists were created. Our list of work locations change by the hour and it is not currently possible to show this information in real time. If you have specific questions about your location, don’t see it here on one of the lists, or would like to report your location please call our office at (617) 796-1530 or submit your request online here.
Open Tree Removal Service Requests through 2-28-13.pdf (NEXT UPDATE 6-1-13)
Open Tree Prune Locations through 2-28-13.pdf (NEXT UPDATE 6-1-13)
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