by Jonathan Rich in Environment and Open Space, Neighborhoods and Squares - Posted on February 12, 2009 at 11:53 am
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Last night at a meeting of the Somerville Garden Club, an audience of about forty club members got a progress report from Brad Arndt, the Coordinator for the Somerville Urban Forest Initiative.
Following up on the Mayor’s pledge in his last inaugural address to increase the number of trees in Somerville by twenty percent over four years, the city is negotiating a contract to put together a complete census of existing trees on public lands in Somerville.
The census will not just count the trees. Certified arborists will assess the health of each tree and create a database that will be available online, mapping locations and conditions of trees. The arborists will also make recommendations for future tree planting policy for the city.
Trees are valuable investments that actually increases in value as they mature. They can be expected to increase property values and reduce runoff going into storm drains. They will also, of course, sequester a lot of carbon dioxide that would otherwise contribute to global warming.
Arndt noted that the census is a critical first step towards getting various kinds of public and private funding for a tree program. Somerville’s census is expected to take place this May and June, although a contract for the work has not yet been signed.
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Will they assess trees on private property?
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No, they run into trespassing issues if they assess trees on private property, and of course the census would become a much larger project. If the city gets a coherent policy for planting and care of trees on land it controls, that will be a big step forward.
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