Mayor Daley Says Chicago Making Good Progress In Taking Care Of And Expanding City's Tree Canopy'; Chicago, IL

Mayor Daley Says Chicago Making Good Progress In Taking Care Of And Expanding City's Tree Canopy: Chicago is making good progress in the critical task of planting more trees, taking care of its existing 3.5 million trees and expanding the City’s tree canopy, Mayor Richard M. Daley said today.

“Chicago has more than 3.5 million trees that remove pollution from the air, reduce summer cooling costs and increase property values,” Daley said at an Arbor Day tree-planting ceremony at John Hancock College Prep High School, 4034 W. 56th St.

“Arbor Day gives us the perfect opportunity to re-commit ourselves to carrying out our mission of protecting human health and the environment, which in turn promotes the quality of economic development throughout our city and improves life for all our residents,” he said.

The Mayor pointed out that early in his administration, he made a commitment to enhance the environment and make Chicago the most environmentally friendly city in the nation.

Toward that goal, the City created the Chicago Climate Action Plan in which it outlined the need to plant more trees, maintain existing trees and expand the tree canopy.