| Local Policy Description: | Expanding and Maintaining Street Trees and Shrubs
Trees play an important role in our community that goes well beyond aesthetics. Their shade helps to offset air conditioning use in the summer, and they can reduce heating costs by blocking cold winds in the winter. Storm water absorbed by city trees can lock up pollutants that would otherwise end up in Lake Champlain. And because of their ability to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, trees have aptly been called the “lungs of the planet.”
For these reasons, it is important that the city and the community support the parks and recreation department in its development of a comprehensive urban forestry master plan.
The first stage of this plan is to plant 4,500 new trees in the city’s green belts, the areas between curbs and sidewalks. The plan would begin by replacing the trees that were destroyed in the 1998 ice storm, and would continue planting with a goal of 11,500 green-belt trees (there are currently around 6,600).
A key component of this plan is maintaining the new trees. Green belt conditions are not ideal for growth, so it is crucial that these trees are watered and well cared-for, especially in the first three years. Sufficient additional resources for planting and the ongoing care of new trees must be identified to make this measure feasible.
The annual emissions reductions estimate for 4,500 trees is 45 tons of CO2 per year.
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