When a developer clear-cut a parcel along Madison Avenue two years ago to build condos, some island residents decided that something had to be done to protect trees.

A citizen advisory group decided what was needed was not punishment and enforcement, but more education and planning.

“If the goal was retaining and protecting trees, we realized that increasing the fine wasn’t the answer,” said Deborah Vancil, whose involvement with the issue began when she was on the Bainbridge Planning Commission.

“If there were going to be punitive fines, the developers needed to know the rules going in, and we weren’t sure that some did.”

After that tree-cutting incident – for which the builder did pay a $2,210 penalty – the city council decided to boost fines.

A draft ordinance to that effect went to the planning commission, where Vancil took up the cause. She was appointed to a citizen committee to study forestry issues, and what began as a 90-day assignment lasted well over a year.

Ultimately, the committee recommended that a comprehensive community forestry plan be developed. The council agreed, and last year created the formal Citizen Forestry Commission.

That group had its initial meeting last week “to take the hand-off from Debbie Vancil,” as Charles Wenzlau put it.

Its first “real” meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. June 12, in the planning department conference room at city hall.

Commission members include Wenzlau, Michael Bonoff, Brian Stahl, John van den Meerendonk, Ray Victurine and Kathy Wolf, with Wayne Daley serving in an advisory role. Vancil has had to bow out of a formal role since being elected to the council.

All commission members were chosen for their technical expertise, Vancil said.

“The first role of this group will be to develop a management plan,” she said. “The technical group will be expanded later to a broader commission beyond the technical experts to include people like school and park officials, people from the historical society and Bloedel Reserve.”

Wolf, a researcher in the forest resources department at the University of Washington, said that a number of years ago, she was involved in vegetation regulatory efforts in the city of Key West, Florida.

“There was no larger scheme to guide lot-by-lot, case-by-case decisions,” she said. “That is what we will work on.”

Creating a systematic plan is not simply a matter of preventing tree-cutting.

“We’re not trying to create a commission to disallow the cutting of trees,” said Vancil. “We want to work with people through education so they will know which trees to protect, and which can be cut.”

Although the initial impetus to the effort was tree-cutting in Winslow, Wenzlau said the commission must have a broader focus.

“The discussions keep getting pulled back to tree cutting in Winslow, but the greatest opportunities are elsewhere,” he said. “And this is not an issue where we point fingers at developers. Individual homeowners need to be stewards. We’re all players in maintaining our forest.”

Commission members say they will tackle the forces that sometimes seem incompatible with preserving trees – the desire to densify downtown, and the frequent desire of Northwesterners for more sunshine.

“The Growth Management Act has posed problems for a lot of communities that trying to densify, because it squeezes space available for trees,” said Wolf.

“Some people say they are mutually incompatible goals, which I don’t buy because there are design solutions. You can’t save every tree, but you can be conscious of our green infrastructure.”

Vancil said some trees can be removed, but there needs to be a plan.

“People need to realize which trees contribute best to the health of our overall natural systems,” she said. “Some provide windbreaks, some block glare, some act as sound barriers. It’s best if you retain the trees that protect.”