Former Northampton mayors are coming out of the woodwork to comment on current development proposals. In April 1925, Nature Magazine urged Americans to observe American Forest Week. It quotes from a proclamation by President Calvin Coolidge:
“We have too freely spent the rich and magnificent gift that Nature bestowed on us. In our eagerness to use that gift we have stripped our forests…
“Our children are dependent on our course. We are bound by a solemn obligation from which no evasion and no subterfuge will relieve us. Unless we fulfill our sacred responsibility to unborn generations, unless we use with gratitude and restraint the generous and kindly gifts of Divine Providence we shall prove ourselves unworthy guardians of a heritage we hold in trust.”
See also:
Attend
the Tree Committee meeting on July 24, 6:30pm at 125 Locust Street and
push for stronger protections for Northampton’s trees
Even though Northampton has been designated as a “Tree City”, a number of other communities in the state have stronger protections for their trees. We encourage you to ask the Tree Committee to promote local ordinances that will protect “significant trees”. In Springfield,
property owners must demonstrate to the city forester that they have
good reasons to remove or cut back trees that are over 75 years old or
more than 3 feet in diameter at chest height.
Community Tree Ordinances and Bylaws for Massachusetts Communities
Cooling Our Cities
[PDF]: A fact sheet on tree planting as a way to save money and
electricity.Trees and Sustainability: Urban Air Quality:
This 12 part brochure from the University of Lancaster in the UK,
nicely summarizes the issues around urban trees and air quality with
graphics.Beginning in 2003, many Massachusetts communities will be faced with a
mandate from the USEPA to develop and implement non-point source
pollution and stormwater management plans. Fortunately, urban forestry
strategies can help satisfy many of these stormwater management
requirements in a cost effective manner. Trees, forests, and other
natural areas effectively manage water through interception,
evopo-transpiration, and infiltration. Together, these processes can
significantly reduce peak stormwater flows, stabilize base flows, and
naturally filter drinking water.
- See our May, 2003 Citizen Forester article “Wat’er Trees Got to Do with It?”
- More information on how trees can help meet stormwater management requirements
- Trees Reduce Stormwater
- Trees: The Oldest New Thing in Stormwater Treatment
- Urban Watershed Forestry Manuals from the Center for Watershed Protection at http://www.cwp.org/forestry/index.htm