November 16, 1999
Mayor Williams Announces Rebound of the District's Tree Program
Mayor Received Community-Inspired Tree Reports
(Washington, DC) Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced today how the District's tree program is being enhanced this year. The Mayor, joined by members of the D.C. Council, was presented with two reports from the Committee of 100 on the Federal City and AMERICAN FORESTS' that documented the need to preserve the District's trees.
The District Government has taken several steps in the process including planting 6,000 trees in Fiscal Year 2000, hiring an additional horticulturist¾taking the District's horticulturist count from two to three, and updating the tree inventory with the help of University of the District of Columbia students. The city is also substantially increasing its contracts for removing dead trees and for tree trimming.
"Our trees are an important resource to this city and I agree that we must make all the necessary steps to preserve them," said Mayor Williams. "Trees not only represent a healthy landscape in our city, but they also have an enormous economic value. The findings in these reports are an important step in the preservation process and I appreciate the strong community support for the District's trees."
Councilmember Carol Schwartz was a champion for boosting the tree budget for fiscal year 2000. The tree budget will reach its highest level in years. In fiscal year 1997, District government had the lowest budget for trees of the decade. The District has rebounded by several million dollars in fiscal year 2000 for the planting, removal and trimming activities.
The Committee of 100 report calls for additional funds to stop the tree decline. The report also recommends a thorough inventory of street trees, and the establishment of a Tree Advisory Board that will develop a coherent tree policy.
"In some ways, trees are like motherhood and apple pie¾everyone is for them," said Sarah Boasberg, chairman of the Tree Subcommittee that produced The Committee of 100 report. "We hope to capitalize on this sentiment by involving citizens through out the District to work with the city government in planting new trees and caring for existing ones."
The AMERICAN FORESTS' report is a comparative study using satellite technology. Satellite images show the change in land cover in the District of Columbia over a recent 24-year period. AMERICAN FOREST utilized a CITYgreen software to conduct the detailed analysis of the structure of the landscape.
"Our satellite data is available to other cities and counties in the region, and we recommend they conduct their own analyses to understand the costs of urban sprawl," said Gary Moll, Vice President of Urban Forest Center, for AMERICAN FORESTS. "Local decisionmakers who know the value of their urban forests can plan for tree-smart development and still accommodate the growth of their communities."
The event was held at Walter Pierce Community Park in Northwest.
