Monday, July 18, 2011
Party Honors Tree Planting Efforts of the Past, Celebrates Citizen Forester
The Chattanooga green community rallied at the Crash Pad this past Thursday to celebrate tree planting and beautification efforts of the past and present. To learn more about the history of those efforts check out this Chattanooga Tree History. Not only did we honor the Citizen Foresters of the past, but also we launched a new forestry initiative open to the publci. To participate, take a class and become a Citizen Forester. Sign Up Now
Check out the awards that were given out during the celebration:
The Sapling Award: A young tree is called a sapling. In the new roots, skinny trunk, small branches and fresh leaves of a sapling exist the potential for future growth and development of a whole forest. Earlier this year, Jonathan Lehman created the TAUT educational initiative to ensure that the youth of Chattanooga remain educated and inspired to sustain and strengthen the waves of positive change occurring in the city. In partnership with Jonathan Lehman and the TAUT initiative, Citizen Forester hopes to introduce an elementary curriculum to children in schools throughout Hamilton County. For his work in this effort, I would like to award Jonathan the Sapling Award for the creation of a new forestry initiative. Certainly, the future of any forest depends on its saplings.
Olive Branch Award: To extend an olive branch is an act of peace and partnership. The olive branch represents a medium through which to engage individuals and organizations around a common idea. The Take Root logo is certainly an olive branch, extended to the community, as a rallying point for engagement, environmental stewardship, and pride in our city. For their effort in creating Take Root’s olive branch to the community at large, we would like to honor Leslie Jensen-Inman on behalf of the UTC Arts and Graphic Design Department, with the olive branch award.
The Aspen Grove Award: An Aspen grove is stand of trees like no other because each tree is connected through a shared root system. A single aspen tree can live a hundred of years, but a grove of aspen trees can live for tens of thousands of years. Just as aspens work together in a grove to perpetuate their species, the members of the Chattanooga Tree Commission work together to educate citizens, make recommendations to city officials, and inform elected leaders about the value that a thriving tree canopy provides our city. In honor of their leadership and guidance to our city on forestry issues, I would like to award Glen Craig on behalf of the Tree Commission, the Aspen Grove Award. We hope that, like an Aspen Grove, the Tree Commission continues to thrive in its roles and responsibilities to Chattanooga forestry efforts far into the future.
Jane and Johnny Appleseed Award: In American mythology, Johnny Appleseed was a free spirit who roamed the Midwest carelessly planting apple seeds wherever his travels took him, and while this figure might fit appropriately into a child’s tale, the truth about Johnny Appleseed is far more nuanced. Appleseed spent years an apprentice at an apple orchard in the east. He eventually moved to the Midwest, where he dedicated himself assiduously to the expansion of apple cultivation. Appleseed carefully planted and maintained his apple orchards in this new frontier. There was little that was haphazard or careless about his work. In light of Appleseed’s dedication to the cultivation of apple trees, I would like to award Paola and Hill Craddock the Jane and Johnny Appleseed Awards for their great contribution to the propagation and support of native plant species, especially the American Chestnut.
The Giving Tree Award: Shell Silverstein’s children’s book, The Giving Tree, is about the relationship between a boy and a tree. We all remember that as the boy grows, the tree generously provides what the boy wants. Our foundation partners, the Benwood and Lyndhurst Foundations, have given generously to the Take Root initiative, and through their generosity as well as partnerships with innumerable other individuals and organizations, Take Root has been a great success for the city and its people. The initiative planted over 1400 trees in three years, which doubled the downtown urban tree canopy from seven and a half to 15% tree cover. Consider that the Benwood and Lyndhurst Foundations each invested more than $100,000 to purchase and plant the 1400 Take Root trees, and the sizable investments of each foundation will pay off handsomely. According to the national tree benefits calculator, each of those 1400 trees provide an estimated $50 per year in measurable environmental and economic benefits. That adds up to $70,000 per year. That means, within three years, our foundations’ investment in trees will have paid itself off. Fifteen years from now as those 1400 Take Root trees grown and matured, they will have given an accumulated $1,050,000 in measurable economic and environmental benefits to the city, and that number doesn’t include benefits like better shade, stronger communities ties, increased business at establishments with trees, reduced crime, lower stress, reduced noise pollution and other factors that are difficult to quantify. Like the Giving Tree, our foundations have given generously to bolster and support Chattanooga’s tree canopy. For this, I would like to present awards to Kristy Huntley of behalf of the Benwood Foundation and Sarah Morgan on behalf of the Lyndhurst Foundation with the Giving Tree awards.
Heritage Tree Award: What is a Heritage Tree? A Heritage Tree may possess distinct size, form, age, location, or historical significance. It may be one of the largest or oldest trees in a community or it simply may be an outstanding specimen of a desirable species. However a Heritage tree is designated, one fact remains, its great importance to the community in which it stands. Over two decades ago, Dr. John Huckaba, his wife Ann, the Chamber of Commerce, and a plethora of volunteers known as the Green Team, undertook and completed ambitious beautification efforts within the city. Their goal: to make Chattanooga not only the best, but also most beautiful mid sized city in the country. We would like to honor Ann Huckaba, on behalf of the efforts of Chamber and Green Team, with the Heritage Tree award. Like a Heritage Tree, their work is of great historical significance.
The Old Growth Award Copy: Old growth trees have lived hundreds or thousands of years. They are mature giants of great ecological and economic value. Some might say, they are priceless and irreplaceable. In light of Gene Hyde’s long standing and invaluable work to the city of Chattanooga as City Forester, we would like to present him with the Old Growth Award.
