According to a report in today’s Post-Intelligencer, environmentalists are promoting the Evergreen Cities campaign for the legislative session that starts next Monday.
The $1 Million Evergreen Cities program would:
- Establish a statewide inventory of urban trees (the state Department of Natural Resources is eager to start this effort)
- Provide grants for local governments to pay for tree conservation
- Support partnerships with nonprofit groups and schools to do restoration and plantings
- Develop regional goals for increasing the land covered in trees
- Aid cities in creating or improving tree protection regulations, and in writing management plan
According to D.C.-based American Forests, about 25 percent of city tree canopy has vanished over the past 30 years nationwide. Cities are responding to this call, with both Los Angeles and Denver pledging to plant 1 million trees. The United Nations met a goal last year of planting 1 billion trees worldwide.
Trees reduce air and water pollution, curb stormwater runoff, slow erosion, absorb carbon dioxide and provide shade that cuts down on energy consumption. The Evergreen Cities program, if passed, would be the first statewide urban reforestation effort.
