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Editorial:Save our precious resource
The Borough of Trees has officially been designated a Tree City USA. There are four criteria to becoming a Tree City. Your city must have a Tree Board or Forestry Department, which in Rutherford is a group of volunteers called the Shade Tree Committee. Your city must spend $2 per resident on trees and their maintenance, which would equate to $35,000 a year and which the town does. Your city must promote Arbor Day. Your city must have a local tree ordinance.
Celebrating Arbor Day proved successful this year as the committee planted hundreds of trees throughout the borough including Lincoln Park, Meadowlands Museum and at the Lincoln, Union and Washington schools. Also a tree nursery was created in Memorial Park.
The last criteria may prove the hardest. Although Rutherford does have a tree ordinance, it needs to be strengthened. The Borough of Trees has a precious resource that has been quickly declining over the years. Lincoln Park lost five century-old oaks after renovations to the park and improper pruning of the trees proved disastrous. And last year a West Pierrepont homeowner took down over 20 large trees on his property that left a neighborhood wondering what happened to the canopy that once graced the block.
Trees keep homes warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. They help rid the air of CO2 and create oxygen. They also play a big part in wetlands and flood zones; their roots soak up gallons of water. As groupings of trees are being razed, residents have reported more basement flooding. And lastly trees add to real estate values.
The Tree City USA designation allows the town to qualify for various grants for tree maintenance and replanting of what has been lost. But stronger tree-razing ordinances are still needed. It will take a 100 years to replace the many trees that have been cut down in the last few years.
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