Most Canadian cities have bylaws to protect trees on public and private property. Edmonton finally has a public tree-protection bylaw but private trees still have no protection. The city’s urban planning committee will be discussing “Trees on Public and Private Property" on October 29th. They would do well to read Kristine Kowalchuk's opinion piece in the Journal prior to that meeting. Kristine Kowalchuk who is chair of the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition writes about the importance of trees to a city and what other Canadian cities have done to reap the benefits.