"Urban Forests" Keep America Beautiful website

Urban Forests

Trees pump out oxygen, remove pollution from the air, provide shelter to wildlife, slow storm water runoff, prevent soil erosion, and reduce noise. All that, and they look great too! That’s why trees increase property values.

In Chicago the urban forest canopy, covering about 11% of the city, saves municipal government more than $1 million a year in pollution mitigation. In Sacramento, letting trees do the work saves $3 million annually.

American Forests recommends that communities set a tree canopy cover goal of 40%, or the equivalent of 20 large trees per acre. To measure a city’s “tree health”, they developed CITYgreen software.

In Philadelphia, the loss of 46 million trees in 15 years, primarily to development, is valued at more than $100 million in reduced capacity to absorb storm water. Check out Albany, GA’s tree ordinance to encourage tree conservation.

The National Arbor Day Foundat ion recognizes hundreds of towns and cities across America as a “Tree City USA”. Ardmore, OK and Shreveport, LA are just two.

COMMUNITY BENEFTIS
Urban forests:

- Beautify the environment.

- Clean the air and reduce pollution mitigation costs.

- Improve property values.

Facts and Figures:

“In summer, shade trees can save up to 50% of air conditioning costs. In winter, windbreak trees can reduce heating bills as much as 30%.”Source: National Arbor Day Foundation.

It is estimated that “the removal of air pollution by New York City’s existing tree cover saves taxpayers as much as $10 million each year…The City’s parks department has planted more than 15,000 trees annually for the past three years.”Source: Roddy Scheer, “Parks as Lungs,” E, Nov-Dec 2001 v 12 i6 p15.

"The urban tree canopy in Chicago annually removes 15 metric tons of carbon monoxide, 84 metric tons of sulfur dioxide, 89 metric tons of nitrogen dioxide, 191 metric tons of ozone and 212 metric tons of particulates.” Source: Roddy Scheer, “Parks as Lungs,” E, Nov-Dec 2001 v 12 i6 p15.

“Trees add to quality of life, which in turn increases property values…up to 15% in areas with well-tended trees.”Source: National Arbor Day Foundation

“In summer, shade trees can save up to 50% of air conditioning costs. In winter, windbreak trees can reduce heating bills as much as 30%.”Source: National Arbor Day Foundation.

“Trees are the ‘ultimate urban multitaskers,’ performing the functions of air filter, sponge, humidifier, heat shield, wind block and carbon sink.” Gary Moll, American Forests.Source: Roddy Scheer, “Parks as Lungs,” E, Nov-Dec 2001 v 12 i6 p15.

“They’re going to just direct all that runoff… right into the creek. The trees aren’t going to be there to absorb the water…You pour a concrete slab, now the water’s got to go somewhere else. It’s like a checkers game.” Brookhaven Councilman Harry Seth, Delaware County, PA Source: Tom Avril, “A Steep Price for Loss of Trees,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 7, 2003.