The City of Syracuse is focused on increasing the number of trees after suffering a substantial loss of coverage in the Labor Day Storm 20 years ago. The efforts continue to plant trees and get public input in the ReLeaf Syracuse effort to find out where in the city people would like them and also get a complimentary tree planted in their yards.
City Arborist Steve Harris says scientific benefits have long proven that urban cities with more tree coverage leads to better human health with improved air quality and assists to moderate urban temperatures. However, there are issues that the roots of older trees cause.
“We remove a lot of trees because of sidewalk repair. At the same time, trees are heaving a lot of sidewalks and different cities handle that issue differently. We think we could look at different models that might help them both coexist and be more acceptable to landowners.”
To handle those problems and other situations, they’re looking to reach at least 1,000 people to hear their opinions about what policies should be devised. They also welcome suggestions to shape the city’s five and 20 year tree management plans.
“In order to come up with a plan, we really need to know what is important about trees to people, what are the biggest challenges that prevent people from wanting to have trees, and what kind of visions and big ideas do people have for getting more canopy cover.”
Harris explains that some people might be deterred from planting trees in their yards for the wrong reasons.
“So people from the Labor Day storm say no I don’t want a tree because I don’t want it to fall on my house again like it did before. Then I say well if the tree wasn’t there all that energy from that wind would have gone onto your roof, maybe would have torn your roof off.”
Onondaga Earth Corps Crews were busy planting trees in the city’s Onondaga Park this week and a total of 600 trees will be planted this fall across the city. To find a link to the survey, click here.
