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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Arborists Catalogue Tree Details To Measure Their Impact On A City


Arborists and volunteers are combing the streets of Baltimore and other cities, counting trees and gathering information about them. The information they compile will be entered into a computer and analyzed by software that projects how much the trees improve air quality, conserve energy, control storm water, and affect property values.

Trees add beauty to cities and neighborhoods, plus they help the environment. But some areas are short on tree coverage, and many cities don’t have an accurate tree count. Now, there is a new way volunteers are helping cities track trees.

Terry and Debra Shepard are hitting the streets to check on trees. A volunteer task they love doing.

“We were looking around for worthwhile things to do to contribute to the city and this looked like a good one,” Terry said.

Volunteers are tracking trees in Baltimore to help boost the city’s trees count. Currently only 20 percent of the city is covered by trees -- a number arborists want to improve.

“So, we want to increase it to 40 percent,” Rebecca Feldberg, an arborist in Baltimore said.

Read on

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