LYNNFIELD — The town has been named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor its commitment to effective urban forest management, marking more than 10 years of this special designation for Lynnfield.
Lynnfield achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: forming a tree board or department, creating a tree-care ordinance, having an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and having an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.
“Tree City USA communities benefit from the positive effects that an urban tree canopy has year after year,” said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “The trees being planted and cared for by Lynnfield ensure that generations to come will enjoy a better quality of life. Additionally, participation in this program helps cultivate a sense of stewardship and pride for the trees the community plants and cares for.”
Planting trees in an urban space comes with a myriad of benefits past the recognition of this program. Urban tree plantings help reduce energy consumption by up to 25 percent, which will reduce general energy costs and help with the overall cooling of the city as well.
This year, the high school’s new Environmental Awareness Club celebrated Arbor Day by planting 16 new trees near the entrance to the teachers’ parking lot. Approximately 20 members of the club rolled up their sleeves and successfully completed the project, which club members say is only the first of many the club plans to undertake.
Club leaders Georgia Milne and Jordan Lavey said the project has been in the making for nearly a year.
“I just got fed up with people not doing anything, there’s been too much talk and not enough action,” said Lavey, who plans to major in environmental science at Virginia Tech. “Georgia and I came up with this idea last August. We had to take action and thought this would be a really nice way to help the community, to make a tangible difference.”
“It feels great that this is all coming together and people are just as excited as we are,” said Milne, who plans to study politics at St. Anselm College this fall. “We are just trying to be kind to the planet and use our voices and actions for kindness. The greatest thing you can do is plant trees.”
Club advisor and Science Department Chair Scott Gordon said the club will continue to plant more trees at the high school, citing the many benefits that come from trees.
“The students realized that a very large amount of trees have been removed on campus and around the campus over the last decade,” he said. “They didn’t talk about planting trees; they did it. We will benefit from these trees for teaching purposes, their positive effect on local ecology and the sheer beauty they provide for students and staff who may want to spend a few minutes of mindfulness sitting among them.”
The Arbor Day Foundation says that other benefits associated with trees include increased property values from as low as seven percent to a high of 20 percent. Trees also positively affect the local ecosystem by helping to clean water and create animal habitats to encourage biodiversity.
More information on the Tree City USA program is available at arborday.org/TreeCityUSA.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
