What Is It?  Trees are the original multi-taskers, playing a vital role in social, ecological and economic spheres. As trees beautify and shade our communities, their leaves and roots clean the air we breathe and the water we drink. Trees serve as nature's public utilities with quantifiable results in storm water management, air quality improvement, and energy conservation. With all these benefits in mind, communities have a lot to gain by developing tree preservation, planting, and replacement standards for their area, starting with a tree policy to spell out specific goals. A tree ordinance will give that policy greater definition and muscle as it serves to direct public and private development. With these in place, tree-planting programs can help energize and direct the community effort toward a healthier, more attractive environment.
Shared Impact and Benefits
- Trees clean the air and produce oxygen, improving air quality.
- By moderating temperatures, trees can also reduce heating and cooling costs, thus saving energy and indirectly contributing to reduced smokestack emissions from energy producers.
- Trees provide shady venues for walking, running, bicycling and other forms of exercise, encouraging activities that promote better health.
- Trees visually enhance streets and communities, making them more desirable places to live and enhancing property values and potential economic development potential.
- Trees reduce storm water runoff, flooding and erosion, improving water quality.
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Costs Implementing a tree program usually requires the help of an arborist/urban forester (salaried, volunteer, or on a consulting basis). Maintenance staffing needs will vary with the size of the municipality. The property owner, either public or private, incurs planting costs. Grants and other funding opportunities are available, and this action usually engenders significant volunteer support.
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How long does this take to
implement? Reaching a consensus over a broad spectrum of interests groups may require several months of discussion, but once this has been established a draft ordinance can be presented to the local governing board for final recommendations. Upon approval, the ordinance can be published and distributed immediately.
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- Trees create a healthier, more beautiful environment, and produce quantifiable results, both to the local community and to the region. The benefits of tree preservation and planting are immediately apparent and an investment in the future.
- Enacting a forward-thinking tree policy, together with an enforceable ordinance and creative and informative tree planting programs, is a highly cost-effective strategy to make a tangible impact on the environmental and aesthetic quality of your community.
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POLICY
