Sustainable Land Development Today - July/August 2008 - (Page 37) I And let’s not forget that trees bring critters back. It’s amazing what songbirds can do for kids with “nature-deficit disorder.” Who needs all that blacktop? Given a choice between a “concrete jungle” and a shaded playground, where do you want your kids to go to school? Ah, yes, trees are indeed beautiful, and the aesthetic appeal cannot be overstated, but we are talking about so much more than just a pretty face here. “Beautification be damned,” says Don Willeke, cofounder of the Tree Trust of Minneapolis/St. Paul and past chair of American Forests. “We plant for economic, environmental and social reasons.” So let’s take a closer look: Reason No. 4: Energy savings. According to the Department of Energy, the shade of strategically located trees can slash home cooling costs by 20 to 50 percent. When evergreens are planted as wind breaks, winter heating bills decline. And when those deciduous (leafy) trees drop their leaves in winter, they let the sun warm your home. It’s elemental, and it all adds up to savings. Reason No. 5: Health. Trees can reduce social service budgets, decrease police calls for domestic violence, and decrease the incidence of child abuse, according to research by University of Illinois researchers Francis Kuo and W.C. Sullivan. They studied the impact of trees on residents of the Chicago Robert Taylor Housing Project, the largest public housing development in the world. Chicago officials heard that message last year and the city government spent $10 million to plant 20,000 trees, a decision influenced by Kuo’s and Sullivan’s research, according to the Chicago Tribune. “People need trees, and trees need people,” says Bill Rutherford, urban forester for Salt Lake City. Reason No. 6: Designed by nature. “Just from a design standpoint we can all appreciate the ability of trees to make oxygen, sequester carbon, fix nitrogen, distill water, provide habitat for hundreds of species, accumulate solar energy as fuel, make complex sugars and food, create micro-climates and selfreplicate,” says world-renowned archi- tect and author William McDonough. “All this and they change color with the seasons.” So you see, trees aren’t just nice to have. They are an essential ingredient in the health and happiness of our people and our communities. So why do most people still take trees for granted? Perhaps because “trees are all around us. They touch our lives in so many ways,” says Ray Tretheway, chair of the board of TreeLink and executive director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation. “But when a homeowner’s tree is removed, the mercury rises.” That’s when tempers flair. Ask any municipal forester. Today nearly 85 percent of Americans live in cities and towns, and those are powerful demographics. In the past half century we have changed from an agrarian society to an urbanized society, so urban forests need public awareness more than ever. Trees are not yet considered a capital asset, and most communities are struggling just to keep up with growth and essential services, so they often lack funds for trees. For this reason, more than 45 major metro areas have established a local “TreeBank” – a community fund for trees – to attract private donors.5 “TreeBank offers a great way to build resources for our local tree planting efforts,” according to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. More and more, the message is spreading to leaders, planners, architects, engineers and landscapers, from the top down and the bottom up. “We have to keep ringing this bell for people to get it,” says senior editor Rob Kundert at Sustainable Land Development International. Any way you look at it, all trees add up to a higher quality of life in subdivisions. That translates to better planning and more value for your customers. As that resonates with home buyers and community leaders, it will add “green” to your balance sheet. SLDT About the author: Pepper Provenzano is executive director of TreeLink and can be reached at 801-363-3435 or pepper@treelink.org. Learn more at www.iTreeBank.org Notations/Citations 1) Wolf, K.L. August 2007. City Trees and Property Values. Arborist News pp. 34-36. 2) Casey Trees Endowment Fund 3) FE Kuo, WC Sullivan - Environment and Behavior, 2001 4) McPherson, E.G., Muchnick, J. 2005. Effects of Street Tree Shade on Asphalt Concrete Pavement Performance. 5) TreeBank ™ is a web-based tool that allows any city or town to develop a local community fund for tree planting, care and education. Learn more at www.itreebank.org. www.SLDTonline.com 37 http://www.iTreeBank.org http://www.itreebank.org http://www.SLDTonline.com
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