Outside the Gazette’s headquarters in Northampton, a string of nine young trees planted last year along Conz Street are slowly growing. When they mature to between 50 and 100 feet tall, they will add to the city’s growing treescape.
Along the base of these trees are signs encouraging residents to inquire about the city’s tree planting program. And what better time of year than right now — three days after Earth Day and on the eve of Friday’s 147th Arbor Day — to consider planting a tree. City officials are making it easy for residents to participate this year by giving away tree seedlings Friday and Saturday at City Hall, among several other initiatives.
Arbor Day began on April 10, 1872 in, ironically, the Great Plains state of Nebraska. Nebraskans that year are said to have planted 1 million trees. Today, all 50 states, as well as many countries around the world, recognize Arbor Day in some manner.
This year will likely mark the 12th year the Arbor Day Foundation has designated Northampton with its “Tree City USA” award. Other Hampshire County communities are recognized, including Amherst for the last 31 years and South Hadley for 23 years.
The award began in 1976 as a way to not only recognize communities for the way public trees are managed, but also to provide a framework for expanding tree canopies within their borders.
Tree planting has certainly taken off in the last few years in Northampton, which launched a project spearheaded by its Public Shade Tree Commission and Tree Northampton Inc., a nonprofit community group. Through the program, neighbors apply for a tree planting project of at least 10 trees in their neighborhood. Groups whose applications are accepted then work with the city’s tree warden to select and plant trees at sites in their neighborhood. The city also provides essentials such as mulch, water and planting tools.
The neighborhood commits to specific tasks on planting day and to watering of trees for the first two years after planting.
This year, tree planting project will take place on Friday near the YMCA parking lot on Massasoit Street and the Cahill Apartments on Fruit Street.
Additionally, residents can now take part in a self-guided walking tour that rolls out Friday. Created by Northampton High School senior Madeleine Lombard, the TreeSpeak Northampton tour is less than a mile long and includes stops at five of the city’s “finest” public shade trees.
As the world comes to grips with the need to address climate change in the wake of a jarring UN report last fall that called for immediate and drastic action, trees will play an important role. They help remove carbon dioxide — a main greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change — from the air, store carbon in the trees and soil, and release oxygen into the atmosphere.
Beyond combating climate change, trees provide a host of other benefits, including attracting wildlife, preventing soil erosion and providing shade — not to mention making our homes and communities look better.
While it’s a noble endeavor to protest and lobby for action to combat climate change, a small step of planting a tree can feel equally as good. Why not start in your own backyard?