Testimony for the Parks and Wildfires Hearing on January 30th and Hearing on Tree maintenance.
Issues:
- Budget Cuts Have Increased Risks: The FY25 budget eliminated 51 forestry positions and the Citywide Trails Team, leaving our parks vulnerable to brush fires and slowing response times.
- Restore Essential Staff: Restoring these positions ($4.9M total) is vital to managing overgrowth, invasive species, and recovery efforts.
- Recovery Efforts Require Resources: Stabilizing erosion, replanting climate-adapted species, and monitoring long-term health are critical after fires.
- Interagency Coordination Matters: A stronger plan is needed to improve emergency response and prevent future fires.
- Develop criteria for prioritizing tree maintenance, the likelihood of harm to people or property, fallen trees or limbs that may pose a threat, proximity to buildings, etc. with these criteria posted on Parks website.
With thanks to Daniel Abram – Director of Policy & Programs
Talking Points for testimony:
– We believe inconsistent and insufficient funding for our natural areas and forest management staff directly increased the risk of brush and natural area forest fires, and will lead to an insufficient response and recovery plan. We are supportive of the Play Fair Coalition’s request for funding in the FY26 budget that would restore staffing for the Natural Resources Group, Parks Enforcement Patrol, and Urban Park Rangers.
– $5M would restore and baseline 76 staff lines for the Natural Resources Group to support forestry management and trails formalization in natural areas citywide.
– The forest management positions were eliminated in the FY25 budget ($2.5M for 51 staff), and the planned Citywide Trails Team funding was cut from the FY24 budget during the FY24 Budget Modification ($2.4M for 26 f/t positions).
– $20.5M would support 250 additional Parks Enforcement Patrol officers citywide, and would baseline 50 Urban Park Ranger positions.
– Sufficient and restored staffing for natural areas and forests would mean increased patrolling, successful restoration, and removal of plant overgrowth that can heighten brush fire risk (i.e. phragmites and mugwort).
- – Recovery and response to the wildfires will need to include staff to stabilize erosion, replant (with climate adapted species), and monitor the long-term health of fire locations.
- – There will be a need for close interagency coordination, especially in brush fire response and recovery, and creating plans for future brush fire response.
- – Lack of Parks staff familiar with natural areas led to delays in the FDNY finding the location of fires, which caused fires to be more damaging and hindered response. The City needs a better plan in place.
- – With regard to the proposed legislation (Intro. 0800 and Preconsidered Bill to establish a wildfire mitigation plan) – we appreciate the intent of the legislation, but believe that more consistent, baselined funding for Parks is what is ultimately needed to advance the intent of these bills. There is concern that further legislating these processes will amount to an unfunded mandate for the agency.Fact Sheet:
- – In the FY25 Adopted Budget, the Natural Resources Group (NRG) of NYC Parks sustained a cut of $2.5M, which eliminated 51 staff lines essential to maintenance and management of natural areas and forests. In the FY24 November Budget Modification there was also a $2.4M cut to the planned citywide trails team, which would have allowed 26 staff lines to join NRG to support trail maintenance and formalization on the 300-mile network of trails in NYC’s public parks.
- – In late 2024, brush and natural area forest fires impacted 41 acres of natural forested areas in parks. The largest fires impacted 10 parks from mid-October through mid-November.
- – Due to the FY25 staff cuts, we estimate that the Natural Resources Group (NRG) will be able to manage care and maintenance in 50% of the acreage that was covered in FY24. Based on the 2024 Mayor’s Management Report, NRG will likely only be able to care for just 383.9 acres (out of a total 12,000 acres of natural areas) citywide in FY25 with the level of staffing they have allocated.
- – As resources and staffing allow, NRG works to remove and manage invasive species such as Phragmites and Mugwort to try and reduce brush fire risk in natural areas, however these species are prevalent and require a high level of maintenance and removal techniques that are not easily done without adequate staffing.
- – The drought our region experienced exacerbated the conditions favorable to brush fires in our parks, and specifically our forested natural areas. While the timing coincides with the drastic reduction in natural areas forest management staff in the FY25 budget, it isn’t
the case that increased staffing would have prevented the drought conditions from occurring.
- – Decreased staffing has made it more challenging to ensure that these spaces are less susceptible to brush fires, and will also make it more challenging for Parks to manage an appropriate recovery response where it is necessary.
- – NRG also works to restore habitat and reintroduce beneficial native species in natural areas, however this work is also limited as staff capacity is constrained.
- – Climate change continues to bring a variety of risks to the city and our natural areas, and having unpredictable staffing and resources to manage and care for these spaces has made it challenging to ensure that the city is proactively managing these spaces for climate resilience.
- – Having more baselined staff lines for natural areas management, restoration, and monitoring would help ensure that NRG is able to increase the acreage of natural areas managed on an annual basis, reducing brush fire risk by both clearing out high-risk plant species and overgrowth, and bringing a more consistent staff presence into these spaces to deter unsafe public use of them.