Crews Clear Trees on Pinellas Trail for Hurricane Practice

City of Dunedin crews got some useful practice in killing trees this week.

"Sure we're killing trees," arborist Bruce Smith said. "But they shouldn't be here."

Dunedin parks and utilities crews met over three days at Oasis Park for a hands-on lesson in chainsaw safety and tree-cutting techniques in the event of a hurricane or natural disaster. Oasis Park stretches along the wooded part of the from the corner of Curlew Road and Bayshore Boulevard to Dunedin's northernmost boundary.

This is the city's third annual training camp with Smith's international tree industry-related training and educational company North American Training Solutions.

Tree falling is much riskier than other emergency work, Smith said referring to police and fire responders, because not as much training is available for them. Statistics, he explained, show one in every handful of cutters responding to disasters are killed in action because they haven't had the proper training.

"That's why the city of Dunedin is great," he said. "They care about their guys and they have a commitments to safety."

Even if a hurricane does not hit Dunedin, Art Finn, city arborist, said, crews are prepared to be first responders for a major disaster anywhere in the state.

"You guys work well, really well with teams," Smith said as he dismissed the crew members Thursday. "You have a team that could make it happen now."

The tree-cutting lesson doubled to remove 12 to 14 invasive, exotic trees for the incoming hardwood section of the Dunedin Tree Arboretum.

The invasive trees, mostly Australian pines, Finn said are a softer wood and much more susceptible to storm damage.

In their place, mostly native Florida hardwood trees, such as pecan, sugarberry, elms and hickory will be planted. The project just received about $16,000 in grants from the state and the Southwest Florida Water Management District to cover the cost of educational signage, Finn said.

"People driving by complaining," Smith said, "don't know what a resource this will be when all the trees are here."