By Kathryn A. Evans
Atlanta Tree Commission
Arbor Day is set aside for schools, civic clubs, and communities to reflect on the importance of trees in their communities. The first Georgia Arbor Day was observed in December 1890, and in 1941, the Georgia General Assembly set aside the third Friday in February as our state Arbor Day. The founder of Arbor Day in the United States, J. Sterling Morton, said, “Other holidays repose the past; Arbor Day proposes the future.”
With an eye to the future, this Arbor Day marks the first anniversary of the City of Atlanta’s PLANT 2012, a multi-year campaign established for “Protecting the Legacy of Atlanta’s Native Trees” by planting 10,000 new trees. The campaign focuses on planting shade trees and native trees wherever space allows, such as in City parks and rights-of-way.
All trees offer economic and environmental benefits, but larger shade trees like oaks, hickories, and beech trees can offer up to eight times the benefit of smaller trees like crape myrtles. Trees work especially hard in the urban environment. Larger stature trees also have a bigger impact on creating shade, conserving energy, cooling parking lots, mitigating urban heat island effect, reducing storm water runoff, and improving local air, soil and water quality.
Native trees, found in this region naturally, are adapted to local growing conditions and ecosystems, and they often perform best over the long run. They also give our region its natural identity.
“While the city does not have a harbor, an ocean front, or a visible river front, in many ways, the tree cover is City’s signature environmental feature,” says Atlanta Tree Conservation Commission member, Dan White. “First-time visitors often marvel at the beautiful large trees that grace our City.”
For this reason, Atlanta protects and perpetuates the urban forest via a tree ordinance. The ordinance requires that residents preserve trees where possible, and when healthy trees must be removed for construction and there is not enough space to replant replacement trees, they contribute to a Tree Trust Fund for planting additional trees throughout the City, ensuring a green legacy for the future.
The PLANT 2012 campaign is funded by the Tree Trust Fund. In the past year, the Trust Fund has supported tree planting along Atlanta’s BeltLine in the Old Fourth Ward Park and the Eastside Trail, at the Thomasville Heights recreation center, and in communities throughout the city in partnership with Trees Atlanta.
Under a contract with Georgia Tech, satellite imagery of the entire city will be analyzed to quantify a reliable baseline measurement of the tree canopy in every area of Atlanta. Results of the analyses are expected in early summer. This information will identify the areas where additional planting is needed as well as establish a baseline against which to measure canopy change in the future.
For more information, visit atlantatreecommission.com. For information about the tree planting program, contact Lanii Thomas at (404) 330-6598.
