Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Blogger Encounters Recycled Rubber Sidewalks; Washington, DC

Prince Of Petworth » Blog Archive » Is this for the Tree’s Roots?:
On two different sections of sidewalk I passed this weekend, the sidewalk was spongy. I had to do a double take, it was so bizarre. It’s gotta be for the roots right? You can see the soft part is slightly darker in these photos...

Clackamas County delays action until September on proposed tree ordinance; Clackamas County, OR

Clackamas County delays action until September on proposed tree ordinance OregonLive.com:
Action on a new Clackamas County tree ordinance has been delayed until September, giving staff members time to produce a more narrowly defined ordinance than had been previously on the table.

County commissioners heard testimony Monday night from 30 people who were unable to present their views at a June 8 public hearing.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Casey Trees appoints two new board members - Charles Flickinger and Karl Warnke join Casey Trees Board of Directors; Washington, DC

News Coverage Casey Trees:
Two new directors have been appointed to the Board of Directors of Casey Trees, the non-profit whose mission is to restore, enhance and protect the tree canopy of the Nation’s Capital.

Charles Flickinger is a lawyer with Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan LLP, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. where he is engaged in general commercial and transactional practice specializing in environmental law including the Clean Air Act, hazardous waste issues and environmental compliance. Charles began providing pro-bono legal assistance to Casey Trees in 2008 when it purchased a gas station in Brookland and cleaned it up to serve as its tree holding yard. Since that time Charles has continued to assist Casey Trees with its legal needs. In addition to being a new Director, Charles is also assuming the role as Executive Committee Secretary.


Karl Warnke is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Davey Tree Expert Company which provides a variety of tree services, grounds maintenance and consulting services for the residential, utility, commercial and government markets in the United States and Canada. Mr. Warnke is a board member of the Greater Akron Chamber and the Ohio Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Casey Trees and Davey have enjoyed a long partnership which has led to the development of the National Tree Benefits Calculator and other tools. Over the past five years, Karl’s steadfast support has been critical to the development and dissemination of the National Tree Benefits Calculator and the i-Tree software suite which helps communities quantify the benefits of, and manage their urban forests.

'Tree czarina' Makra to lead Chicago-area tree census; Chicago, IL

'Tree czarina' to lead Chicago-area tree census - Chicago Breaking News:
As a tree scientist, Edith Makra spends her days at the Morton Arboretum thinking about, studying, planting and protecting trees -- a subject she finds so compelling that her idea of the perfect vacation is to hike California's redwood and sequoia forests with her husband.
In 1993, as Mayor Richard Daley's first urban forestry aide, she convened a groundbreaking census of trees in the city's 'urban forest,' as well as across Cook and DuPage counties. A part of Daley's earliest city 'greening' campaign, the undertaking called attention to disappearing native species like oak and years later aided in the battle against emerald ash borer beetles.
U.S. Forest Service scientists developed analytical software for the 1993 census. It was so successful that it has since been used in more than 300 cities.

Monday, June 21, 2010

The benefits of trees to our region; Houston, TX

The benefits of trees to our region -FBBJ-06/10:
Urban trees and forests in and around the Greater Houston Metropolitan Region have a significant economic and environmental impact on the area. Studies throughout the nation have shown that urban forest can help improve air quality by reducing air temperatures, directly removing pollutants from the air and by reducing building energy use and consequent pollutant emissions from power plants. Because of this, in 2000, the USDA Forest Service Region 8 Cooperative Forestry Division approved funding of a special project, called UFORE (Urban Forests Effects model), to investigate the effects of trees in the Houston Metropolitan area on air pollutant concentrations. The goal of this project is to provide evidence of urban tree effects on air quality so tree management can become an integral part of clean air planning and policies in Houston.

Students brave bogs and bugs for tree inventory; DeSoto County, MS

Students brave bogs and bugs for tree inventory » The Commercial Appeal:
Kuehler recently conducted a two-day training program for Mississippi State tree-inventory team members and others from as far away as Kentucky. Inventory data will be be made available locally and incorporated in i-Tree, a peer-reviewed software suite from the Forest Service that provides urban forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools.
The i-Tree system is designed to help communities boost urban forest management and advocacy efforts by quantifying the structure of community trees and the environmental benefits that trees provide.

Tree census: Chicago-area trees to be counted; Chicago, IL

Tree census: Chicago-area trees to be counted - chicagotribune.com:
As a tree scientist, Edith Makra spends her days at the Morton Arboretum thinking about, studying, planting and protecting trees — a subject she finds so compelling that her idea of the perfect vacation is to hike California's redwood and sequoia forests with her husband.
In 1993, as Mayor Richard Daley's first urban forestry aide, she convened a groundbreaking census of trees in the city's 'urban forest,' as well as across Cook and DuPage counties. A part of Daley's earliest city 'greening' campaign, the undertaking called attention to disappearing native species like oak and years later aided in the battle against emerald ash borer beetles.

What should be cut?; Clackamas County, OR

What should be cut?:
Last week's standing-room-only crowd in the Clackamas Board of County Commissioners hearing room forced a delay in voting on a controversial amendment to the tree ordinance. More than 75 people showed up at the June 8 hearing and at least 66 people signed up to speak, so commissioners rescheduled their vote for June 28 at 6:30 p.m.
After other lengthy meetings this spring, the Clackamas Planning Commission had voted 6 to 1 on April 12 to recommend to the county board that the proposal to increase tree protections in unincorporated areas inside the Urban Growth Boundary not be adopted.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Blogger Warns That Proposed Urban Tree Canopy Ordinance WIll Violate Constitution and Declaration of Independence, Take Away Unalienable Rights; Clackamas County, OR

Clackamas Co. Comm. Proposed Urban Tree Canopy Ordinance Oregon 912 Project:
June 8th there was a Clackamas County Commissioners' proposed Urban Tree Canopy ordinance public testimony meeting.
I arrived at 6:30PM and stayed until the end of the meeting...10:30PM. Several from both Oregon 912 Project and AFP Clackamas were present and spoke up. Both the main room and the overflow room were standing-room-only. I estimate that 2/3 of those who spoke were against the proposed ordinance. Over 90 people signed up to speak.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Urban and community forests of the South Central West region: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas report released by USFS NRS

Urban and community forests of the South Central West region: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas: Urban and community forests of the South Central West region: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas

Partcipate in Anchorage Urban Forest Management Plan and Survey through Jjuly 1; Anchorage, AK

Anchorage Urban Forest Management Plan and Survey:
The Alaska Division of Forestry, Community Forestry Program and the Municipality of Anchorage invite the public to complete a short online survey on how they use and what they value in forested parks in Anchorage. Responses will be used to develop a management plan that will help maximize benefits and services from undeveloped forest land.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A great place to park a tree; Philadelphia, PA

A great place to park a tree Philadelphia Inquirer 06/09/2010:
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Michael DiBerardinis has said he wants 300,000 more trees planted in Philadelphia by 2015, and an expansion of the city's canopy from 15 percent to 30 percent over the next two decades.
Here's a good place to start: parking lots.
Surface parking lots cover an enormous amount of land in urban areas, ranging from 18 percent in New York City to more than 80 percent in Los Angeles. Philadelphia and its suburbs have thousands of asphalted acres dedicated solely to cars.
Because of the need to provide parking for cars at every possible destination, we've created far more parking spaces than we have cars. That means most parking spaces are empty most of the time - an enormous waste of space.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Trees vs. views: Could Seattle's tree policy change?; Seattle, WA

Trees vs. views: Could Seattle's tree policy change?:
Last year, a Leschi homeowner applied for a permit to lightly prune a few city trees near her home to enhance her view of Lake Washington.

The application ignited rage over a long-ago poisoning of a big-leaf maple in the area, which paved the way for a current moratorium on all such permits, which led to a renewed debate on the ethics of tree trimming -- all over a desire to snip a few branches.


But in leaf-loving, view-gawking Seattle, the debate between saving trees and preserving views has always been tense. Stories of butchered trees often prompt the same outcry as violent crimes, with tree lovers railing against homeowners whose property values depend on how bushy the foliage gets outside their windows.