Georgia Urban Forestry Council director Beckley touts importance of trees at meeting in Rome, GA

Mary Lynne Beckley, executive director of the Georgia Urban Forestry Council, speaks to Rome Rotary. (Doug Walker, RN-T)

RN-T.com - Forestry Council director touts importance of trees:
The No. 1 reason trees are important in Georgia is that by planting a tree, you’re leaving a legacy for future generations. Mary Lynn Beckley, executive director of the Georgia Urban Forestry Council, touted the importance of trees to the Rome Rotary Club on Thursday.

Beckley presented data from several of the metropolitan areas in Georgia indicating tremendous losses of canopy, but said things are changing for the better. “We have a lot more awareness about our trees,” Beckley said.

In the Savannah metro area — encompassing Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties — between 1995 and 2005, the council registered a 28-percent decrease in tree canopy, along with a 272-percent increase in impervious surfaces, parking lots and roads, for example.