Our city was named a 2018 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of the city's commitment to effective urban forest management.The city achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program's four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
"Tree City USA communities see the impact an urban forest has in a community first hand," said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. "Additionally, recognition brings residents together and creates a sense of community pride, whether it's through volunteer engagement or public education."
The Urban Forestry Commission is our city's tree board, it is chaired by Jane Harris. Harris said that not only is our city known historically as the Forest City, it is a city committed to the ecological and economic value of trees to our urban environment.
"Urban trees in particular provide huge benefits in reducing summer temperatures, in dispersing heavy rainfall, cleaning the air we breath, and providing critical habitat for wildlife, and they increase our property values," said Harris. "I salute the City's professionals and elected officials who have kept this level of funding in place, and hope we can do even more in years to come."
I notice that local brewer Stubborn Beauty makes something called Happy Treez, and a nearby restaurant beer menu carried this apt quote, “There's nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend." Apparently vino is not the only place where veritas resides.
ReplyDeleteKind of ironic, isn't it, that we just passed an ordinance that will result in more trees being killed to make paper bags.
ReplyDeleteOne solution to the paper bag issue is for people to bring their own bags to the store. It's very easy to keep a few in the car and just bring them in. The ones I own are washable, and hold a lot of groceries. It's also worth noting that paper is made from soft woods that are planted in giant plantations just for that purpose. A pulpwood plantation doesn't have a lot of ecological value -- when the paper companies tell us about their "reforestation" efforts, they are talking about replanting with the very same pines they just cut down, and which they will grow with massive inputs of water and fertilizer. I agree with those who think paper is not a good trade-off for plastic environmentally, but at least paper will degrade in a landfill. People of good will might want to think about all the ways they can recycle: if you must take a paper bag from a store, at least use it again for your trash. If you compost the organic portion of your waste, trash doesn't really need to be entombed in plastic.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a very sad sight to see many of our large beautiful trees trees cut down in Middletown in the past couple of years. I understand that some have disease or are dying, but many are clearly healthy beautiful trees that have been decimated by the city. Because of their age and size they can not be replaced. The older large trees provide beauty, shade and quality of life that can't be replaced. Many other towns appreciate these old large trees and work to keep and maintain them rather than chop them down. It's disappointing that the city of of Middletown does not seem to value them.
ReplyDeleteThe City of Middletown does not decimate healthy beautiful trees. Pruning or removal occurs when the risk to persons or property are sufficient that it is prudent to take remedial action. If a tree will be so damaged by road work or other construction that it will not be safe after construction ends, then the City will preemptively remove the tree and replace it later with an appropriate tree.
ReplyDeleteUtility companies, which are regulated by PURA, have a different standard for pruning and/or removal: the protection of utility wires. Under the most recent PURA rulings, utility contractors can clear quite a large swath from ground to sky adjacent to wires and poles. However, they are required to obtain property-owner approval before they touch a tree on private property.
Because both the City and Eversource employ the same contractor (Asplundh), people are sometimes confused as to which entity is responsible for tree work being performed. When the City schedules a tree for removal, unless there is immediate risk of harm, the tree(s) in question will have a paper posting that indicates the tree is to be removed and concerned citizens may request a tree hearing to prevent removal from occurring.