Accolade elm trees were planted along Sumner Avenue this week as part of a massive, partly grant-funded effort to put new trees in the ground. An August article in Forest Park News reported that this fall’s 54 tree plantings—52 along Sumner Avenue in Forest Park, and two on Central Street—are funded from three sources: a $6,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and a matching contribution of $3,000 from the Forest Park Civic Association and $5,000 from the Forest-Park-based non-profit Concerned Citizens for Springfield (I am a board member).
According to the mayor’s office press release, "This [DCR] grant is particularly critical as the city has not planted trees, much less removed stumps, in a number of years due to budget cuts. As a part of the project, over 40 stumps have been ground to date. Many more stumps will be ground in the Forest Park area in the upcoming weeks."
Decades of neglect have left many of Springfield’s 32,000 trees in bad shape. Springfield’s head forester Ed Casey said that until recently, as many as 3,000 trees needed to be considered for removal, half of them in dire condition. Since July, thanks to new budget allocations for the purpose, 700 trees have been removed. Widespread tree removal is a helpful first step, although some residents may not be accustomed to the city’s practice. What may look like perfectly healthy trees are suddenly removed—and residents may have no clue that they were long-targeted for removal, awaiting the proper funds for it.
The complimentary challenge, though, Casey said, is that when the city removes trees, new plantings become necessary. Many trees in the city’s nursery in Forest Park are outgrowing their spots, and the danger is that they will become too acclimated there. Then they become difficult to move to a permanent home elsewhere in the city.
The plantings this fall include the accolades from Longhill Street to the X at Belmont Avenue, autumn purple ash trees from the X through the business district to White Street, and frontier elm trees from White Street to the edge of the Forest Park neighborhood at about Dorset Street, or the old rail line.
To keep up with changes to the city’s treescape, Casey and his colleagues are using a GIS-enabled mapping system through the Davey Resource Group, which created TreeKeeper software, and the Massachusetts DCR. (Take a test drive of the system at the Davey Resource Group site.)
