Happy Trees - Friends of the Conway Tree Board

                        Hey there guys! I know I have been gone for a long ass time…but I’m back (mostly). I stopped posting around the time Bodhi disappeared because honestly I just didn’t care about anything else right at that moment. He never returned, but I’ve accepted that he’s gone, though I’ll undoubtedly miss him for years to come. After that things just got busy real quick. I’m graduating next month, got a business up and running, and I’ve started volunteering with the Conway Tree Board. Pictures from around the City of Conway. (excluding famous individuals)

Mission of the Conway Tree Board

• Increase public awareness of urban forestry issues in the City of Conway
• Develop comprehensive urban forestry policies for the City of Conway
• Develop educational workshops and materials on proper tree management
• Seek public and private funding for community forestry management
• Integrate natural resource issues into local and regional planning efforts
• Coordinate constructively with other natural resource organizations
• Increase the tree canopy of the City of Conway

Advantages of Urban Trees

Environmental

                 Trees benefit our urban environment by moderating climate, absorbing storm water, reducing erosion, improving water and air quality, and providing wildlife habitat. Temperature in the vicinity of trees is cooler than that away from trees. The larger a tree is, the greater it’s potential for cooling. Urban trees moderate the heat-island effect caused by pavement and buildings in commercial and residential areas. Trees and other woody vegetation absorb rainwater, thereby reducing storm water runoff and soil erosion. Storm water filtered by trees is less contaminated with pollutants and silt. Trees also absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, and other air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and ozone. Oxygen is released by trees, further enhancing the air we breathe. Wildlife such as birds and squirrels utilize urban tree habitats. By planting urban trees, a more natural, less artificial environment is created within the city.

Social

                We like trees around us because they make life more pleasant. Most of us respond to the presence of trees beyond simply observing their beauty. We feel peaceful, restful, and tranquil in a grove of trees. Hospital patients have been shown to recover from surgery more quickly when their hospital room offered a view of trees. Children and parents prefer playgrounds with trees, which offer shade and protection from harmful UV rays. City trees often serve several architectural and engineering functions. They provide privacy, emphasize views, or screen out objectionable views. They reduce glare and reflection. They direct pedestrian traffic. They provide background to and soften, complement, or enhance architecture. The stature, strength, and endurance of trees give them a cathedral-like quality. Because of their potential for long life, trees frequently are planted as living memorials.

Economic Benefits

                 The economic benefits of trees can be both direct and indirect. Direct economic benefits include lower air-conditioning costs in a tree-shaded building. Heating costs are also reduced when a home has a windbreak. Landscaped homes are more valuable than non-landscaped homes. The savings in energy costs and increase in property value directly benefit each home owner. The indirect economic benefits of trees are even greater. These benefits are available to the community or region. Lowered electricity bills are paid by customers when power companies are able to use less water in their cooling towers, build fewer new facilities to meet peak demands, use reduced amounts of fossil fuel in their furnaces, and use fewer measures to control air pollution. Communities also can save money if fewer facilities must be built to control storm water in the region. To the individual, these savings are small, but to the community, reductions in these expenses are often in the thousands of dollars.

Some famous tree enthusiasts.

                While living in a dry county for the entire college experience sucks something fierce, I'm proud to live in a city that values and aims to protect the beautiful foliage the Natural State is known for. Tree City USA status granted to the City of Conway in March 2007. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. It provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs.

                Each year the Conway Tree Board hosts the Conway Arbor Day Festival on November 6. I know it is traditionally held in the spring but many people here like to plant their trees in the fall and thus a tradition was born. My next post will cover Conway Arbor Day 2010, at which I took part in a marathon face-painting session.

For more information about urban trees visit the links below:

What's keeping you from planting a tree?