Winnipeg citizen action group Trees Please has their new T-shirts printed for supporters and is embarking on a campaign to get city council to consider the importance of its mature tree canopy.
Some budget changes recently have allowed the Parks and Open Spaces department to catch up on tree maintenance and removal of diseased trees, getting in 2.7 new trees for every tree removed, said David Domke, manager of Parks and Open Space for the City of Winnipeg at a meeting in Elmwood in May.

People in attandance applauded the turnaround in the budget allocation, long a contentious issue in the city since the arrival of Dutch Elm disease and the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle in 2017 began eating into the city’s famous tree canopy.
But Trees Please wants the city to create bylaws to protect its mature trees on private properties, and says more than 20 other Canadian cities already have similar bylaws in place
Trees Please is hoping to get it in as an item in the upcoming civic election.
Winnipeg has aproximately three milliom trees, but 80-90 percent of our trees are on private land, said Erna Buffie, “and the city owns less than 50% of the riverbank forests. ”
When Premier Wab Kinew stepped in to save the Lemay Forest from development, she said, 17,000 trees were saved that could have been lost without any consultation with the city. “We have no idea how many trees are lost to construction and development,” said Buffie. “Urban forests are among the most effective, equitable, solutions available to enhance climate resilency.”

Trees Please members sported their new T‐shirts at launch of their new campaign (photo provided).