City trees worth over $1,000,000; Hickory, NC; 4/28/09

City trees top $1 million in value Hickory Daily Record - Hickory,NC,USA
Trees cover 32 percent of Hickory, according to Teague's data, and are worth more than $1.1 million for the 508,916 pounds of pollution they annually remove from the air. Forty-two percent of Hickory's landscape is composed of open spaces made up of grass and trees.
Teague said it is her goal not just to preserve Hickory's tree canopy but also to increase it to 40 percent.
One way canopy is lost is when trees are removed for new construction, such as roads or buildings.Teague said Hickory has begun requiring developers to refrain from removing mature trees by incorporating them into the building's landscape design. She said the trees provide beauty, utility and value to real estate.