The Power of Trees to Unite a Community

This is a post about the power of trees. The power of trees to unite a community. The power of trees to provide hope for the future. The hope that trees will unite a community going forward into the future.

This post is actually coming a month late, but I thought it is still worth talking about. Most states celebrate Arbor Day on the last Friday in April every year. Arbor Day was first celebrated in Nebraska in 1872 as a way to encourage communities in the fledgling state to plant trees in the towns that had been treeless prairies only a few decades before. My own community, Lower Macungie Township, PA, was primarily rural through much of the 20th century and focused on agriculture. Since 1971, however, Lower Macungie has gone from 10,521 acres of farmland to less than 3,000 currently. And from 8,814 residents in 1970 to over 31,000 in 2010. That is a 250% increase in 40 years, compared to the U.S. population, which increased just 51% in that same 40-year period. In the first decade of the 21st century, we had the dubious designation of fastest growing municipality in Pennsylvania.

One of the results of the rapid and poorly planned development of Lower Macungie over the past 30 years has been fragmentation. As large farms were gradually sold off to developers, we saw increasing fragmentation of wildlife habitat as well as fragmentation of human habitat. Nearly every large residential development built during the growth years was not connected to the rest of the community by any means other than automobile.  If a development was required to have sidewalks (which did not happen until the late 1990s), the sidewalks tended to dead-end at the limits of the project. No forethought was given to requiring connecting sidewalks to get to adjacent developments or even just to get outside of the development without having to walk the circuitous sidewalks though along the streets that were laid out in patterns reminiscent of a medieval labyrinths.

Photo credit: Sharon Schrantz, East Penn Press

This year the township’s Environmental Advisory Council (EAC), which I chair, initiated our first annual Arbor Day event. I felt that beginning an Arbor Day tradition in the township could be a way to address two concerns I have:  it would add back a small bit of the nature we’ve lost through the past decades of development, and it would be an opportunity for residents from different developments to join together to celebrate planting a new tree in a township-owned open space.

The EAC selected a location for our Arbor Day tree that is near the only elementary school in the township that has sidewalks leading to it and which is safely by foot from at least six different developments.  Had it not been for the school being built five years ago, this area would still not have any sidewalks connecting the surrounding developments.  The location we chose for our Arbor Day tree is an underutilized parcel that the builder of an adjacent development had to donate to the township as ”recreational open space,” primarily because a floodplain separates it from the rest of the development. The parcel is about 6.5 acres if you don’t count a stormwater channel bordering it on one side.  Because the parcel is categorized as recreational open space, the Public Works Department mows it regularly all summer long, whether it needs it or not. In the 10 years I’ve lived here, however, I’ve never seen anyone use the parcel for recreation.

Photo credit: Sharon Schrantz, East Penn Press

Our Arbor Day celebration on April 24 this year opened with a soloist from the local high school chorus (who happens to be my niece) singing the National Anthem, and with local Boy Scout Troop 131 presenting the American flag for the pledge of allegiance. The centerpiece of our celebration was our Arbor Day tree for 2015:  a northern red oak (Quercus rubra) that was placed in a pre-dug hole.  Following a few words from local dignitaries, we asked all in attendance to take a turn with a shovel and toss in some dirt to help backfill the tree. By adding even a handful of soil to the tree’s root ball, everyone present had taken place in planting the tree. And by doing so, they are part of the legacy of hope for future generations of residents who will enjoy the tree’s beauty and shade.

Our plan is to select different locations in coming years to plant the township’s future Arbor Day trees – locations that can be accessed by at least two surrounding neighborhoods so that people from different developments can be drawn to the beauty the trees will offer and enjoy the birds that will also share the trees with the community. H   opefully, the 30 or so residents who attended our first annual celebration this year will seek out future celebrations and will bring their friends and neighbors.

Photo credit: Addison George, Morning Call (www.mcall.com) 

In Praise of Volunteers

Penns Meadow stormwater basin upland area, showing

trees amidst a sea of wild flowers (photo by author).

I’ve written previously about the naturalized stormwater basin (Penns Meadow) in my township that our Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) has adopted. The basin was a roughly 3.5-acre, shortly-mowed lawn until our county conservation district was awarded a grant in 2010 to retrofit it with three different types of stormwater best management practices featuring appropriate native vegetation. I had the opportunity to work with a small group of great volunteers at Penns Meadow last week to tackle a project, tree protection, that has been on the EAC’s to-do list for a couple of years.

First, let me clarify the role that our township EAC is supposed to have. The EAC was established by ordinance in 2009 by the Board of Commissioners at that time with the stated purpose to:

“advise local governmental agencies including, but not limited to: the Board of Commissioners, the Planning Commission, and the Parks and Recreation Board, on matters dealing with the protection, conservation, management, promotion, acquisition, and use of natural resources including air, land, water, and open space resources located within or affecting Lower Macungie Township.”

And these stated duties are the types of things we discuss at our monthly meetings. However, in a municipality of 22 square miles in which 31,000 residents are connected by over 100 miles of township roads, there are some things of interest to the EAC that don’t fall into standard municipal services categories. For example, following up on proper maintenance of the Penns Meadow stormwater basin area has never really been officially delegated to any particular department or staff members.

Although the EAC was never intended to be a hands-on group of volunteers, we make an effort to coordinate volunteer projects once or twice a year for the good of the township’s natural resources. Many of these projects have involved Penns Meadow, simply because the retrofit was a great project and we want to ensure that the original efforts are properly maintained. And such was last week’s project at Penns Meadow, with the volunteer labor supplied by a group of Master Watershed Stewards.

Tree tube installed on a tree to prevent

rodent damage to bark (photo by author).

Our local Master Watershed Stewards Program is run by the Penn State Extension service. It currently operates in only three of PA’s 67 counties, however. Similar watershed steward programs are run by state land grant colleges and universities in a few other states (Arizona, New York and Ohio). Several other states have Master Naturalist programs that are probably comparable. Our Pennsylvania Master Watershed Stewards complete 40 hours of training on a wide range of topics such as:  the hydrologic cycle, groundwater, water chemistry, water test interpretation, stream ecology, wetlands, forestry, dam removal, riparian buffers, soils, geology, invasive plants, stormwater and flooding. Following training, 50 hours of volunteer work are required to complete the program and earn the title. In successive years, 20 hours of volunteer work and 10 hours of continuing education are required. It’s only in its second year here, but it looks like it’s turning into a great program. And for an EAC chair who is often looking for volunteers to help with the Penns Meadow stormwater basin site, I’m happy to have some new volunteers to include so that I don’t burn out the boy scouts who usually help us with projects each year.

Mulch from township's yard waste composting
operation and tree with a protective tube in
background (photo by author).

Last week’s project with our Watershed Stewards involved installing tree protection tubes around the trunks of 140 trees and spreading some mulch at the base of those trees. The tree tubes will serve two purposes. First, they will improve the visibility of some of the smaller trees among tall, dead, herbaceous vegetation in the winter when the area gets its annual mowing. We’ve had mishaps with trees getting run over once before, because the EAC did not have the trees marked out clearly enough. The second, and more critical, need for the tree tubes is to prevent rabbits and other smaller rodents from eating the bark around the trunks over the winter. While helping to install some of the tubes last week, I noticed at least one tree that had a ring of bark gnawed off around the base of it. Bark damage that encircles a tree like that is called girdling. If that girdling continues all the way through the bark into the underlying cambium layer, a tree does not stand much chance of surviving. Hopefully, with the new tree tubes in place, the girdled tree I saw can recover, and girdling of other trees will be prevented.

Thanks to the Lower Macungie Public Works Department for delivering about 10 cubic yards of mulch to the site – enough for all 140 trees receiving tubes. The Watershed Stewards distributed the mulch to each of the trees with either wheel barrow or by lugging a couple of five gallon buckets. Thanks to Julie, Shannon, Jien and Crystal for your sweat equity in Penns Meadow.

It was a hot evening, but it was nice to see the wildflowers in bloom. They look a heck of a lot better than a scorched lawn at this time of year.

Purple cone flowers (foreground) and wild bergamot (background) in bloom (photo by author).

Black-eyed susan (yellow) and swamp milkweed (tall with purplish flowers) in bloom (photo by author).

Climate Change From a Fish-eye View

For those of us who acknowledge that climate change is real and is already happening, we have the advantage of planning ahead to identify actions that we can take on a local scale to alleviate some of the effects we expect to see throughout the rest of our lifetimes. The U.S. Congress and global diplomats certainly have the ability to take much bigger strides to try to mitigate a climatic tailspin by taking action to lessen the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. But let’s consider something each of us can do to mitigate some of the CO2 already in the atmosphere. Plant trees.

A shade tree is capable of absorbing and storing as much as 48 pounds of CO2 in one year. In 40 years, a tree can sequester one ton of CO2 (http://www.ncsu.edu/project/treesofstrength/treefact.htm). That’s pretty substantial, especially considering that most large shade trees (non-ornamentals) can live decades beyond 40 years.

I have a feeling that not very many climate deniers are going to be reading this post. But just in case, for their benefit, I’ll point out another important benefit of planting more trees in our communities. Stormwater control. Trees can manage some of the stormwater heading for waterways in two ways. First, they intercept rainfall before it hits the ground. The result is a delay in the rain hitting the ground as it hangs out on the vast surface area of the leaves and bark. Think about how often you’ve walked under a tree after a rain shower and had raindrops fall from the leaves onto your head and shoulders. And more significantly, trees consume huge amounts of stormwater after it hits the ground. A mature oak can consume up to 40,000 gallons per year. Decreased stormwater runoff means less severe flooding. It’s estimated that for every five percent increase in tree cover in a community, the stormwater runoff is decreased by approximately two percent (https://www.americanforests.org). A two percent decrease might not sound like much, but for municipalities trying to meet the requirements of their EPA stormwater discharge permit (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, or MS4, permit), every gallon that doesn’t go into the local creek is a welcome reduction. Trees also absorb some of the pollutants picked up by stormwater, keeping them from washing into waterways as well. See, trees have something to offer everyone regardless of their climate beliefs.

So, speaking of trees, my local Trout Unlimited chapter (the Little Lehigh Chapter) last week was awarded a 2014 Coldwater Conservation Implementation Grant from the Coldwater Heritage Partnership. The Coldwater Heritage Partnership’s mission is to provide leadership, coordination, technical assistance, and funding support for the evaluation, conservation and protection of Pennsylvania's coldwater streams. The partners are Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, and Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited. The chapter will use this $5,172 grant to purchase and plant 76 appropriate shade trees throughout five selected areas along the Little Lehigh Creek in Lower Macungie Township that have significant gaps in the streamside riparian buffer tree canopy. As they mature, these shade trees will help to maintain the naturally cool water temperature in the spring-fed Little Lehigh to help prevent heat stress on the native trout during the summer months.

 

Little Lehigh Creek at Willow Lane in East Texas, PA. 

But this grant award is a win for more than the Little Lehigh’s native trout. As the trees grow, they will be sucking up stormwater runoff heading for the creek along with some of the road salt, fertilizer, oil and grease typical in suburban stormwater runoff. And, by 2054, these 76 trees will have absorbed approximately 76 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Inedible Fruit as Food for Thought This Arbor Day

This post was supposed to be for Earth Day on Monday (April 22).  But a weekend of fishing and gardening prevented me from writing it prior to Monday, and my day job prevented me from writing it on Monday.  Fortunately, I have a chance at redemption, because Arbor Day is on Friday, April 26.  And this piece really is more appropriate for Arbor Day than Earth Day.

Hopefully lots of trees will be planted all around the country this weekend in observation of Arbor Day.  What kind of trees?  I hope everyone considers planting trees native to their own area, because natives are already suited to the climate and typically offer some degree of benefit to wildlife.  But really, the better question to ask is:  What kind of trees should we NOT plant. I’m glad you asked.

Throughout the eastern the United States, you can easily spot Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) trees this time of year.  Here in the mid-Atlantic states, they are now just starting to go from their full, brilliant-white bloom to leafing out.  Look for trees with upward spreading branches that are entirely in bloom in white, and you’ll probably find Callery pear trees.  In autumn, their leaves turn various pleasant shades of red.  Sounds like a really nice tree, right?  Maybe too much of a good thing.

Many communities have allowed and even encouraged Callery pear cultivars to be planted as street trees.  Planting a monoculture of any one tree species is bad, because a species-specific blight could wipe out entire neighborhoods of those trees in just a couple of years.

The Callery pear tree is native to Vietnam and China. First introduced to the United States in the early 20^th century for experimentation to develop blight resistance in the common pear, the Callery did not become popular ornamentally until the 1950s.  As its ornamental value grew, various cultivated varieties were developed.  Probably the most popular cultivar of the past 50 years has been the Bradford pear.

Cultivars in the U.S. originated from China and are different genotypes. Some genotypes require cross-pollination from another genotype to set seed, but others can self-pollinate. Different genotypes growing within about 300 feet of each other can cross-pollinate and produce fruit with viable seeds. The Bradford pear cultivar is one of several varieties of Callery pear that are capable of spreading and being invasive.

The fruits of Callerys and their cultivars are not edible by humans, being only about one centimeter in diameter.  But birds readily eat these small fruits and disperse the seeds in their droppings, and fertile seeds will establish anywhere they are dropped.  Seeds that germinate can grow rapidly in disturbed soils such as along roadsides and the margins of cultivated fields and woodlots. The plants that spread in natural areas are not true cultivars. They are sexually reproducing populations consisting of multiple genotypes that recombine every generation to produce more viable seed and perpetuate the invasion of this non-native pear tree.

Callery pear cultivars that have formed a thick patch in a former

cultivated field.


Once established, Callery pear trees can form dense thickets that push out native trees that cannot tolerate the Callery’s shade or compete with them for water, soil, and space.  A single Callery or fertile cultivar can spread quickly via seed suckers and form a formidable patch in less than 10 years.  Its success as an invasive species is aided by a general lack of natural controls like insects and diseases.  Callery pear trees are reported to have escaped cultivation and are out-competing native trees in at least 25 states.

Identification

•    Size:  mature height is 30-50 ft. tall and 20-30 ft. wide; young trees may be thorny.

•    Leaves: deciduous, alternate, simple, broad-ovate to ovate, 1½-3 in. long; shiny dark green and leathery, small round-toothed margins; scarlet, mahogany, purple hues in fall.

•    Flowers, fruits and seeds: flowers in early spring before the leaves, white with five petals, about 1 in. across; fruits mature in fall and are small, hard, brown, and almost woody.

•    Spreads: by seeds that are dispersed to new locations by birds that eat the fruits.

Control


Simply do not plant the Callery pear or any of its cultivars such as the Bradford.  Lobby your municipal planning commission to prohibit Callery pear cultivars from inclusion in land development plans.

Cut down medium or large trees and treat their stumps with a systemic herbicide like glyphosate (better known as Roundup).  If you find them coming up in your yard or even in the wild, you can simply pull the seedlings and shallow-rooted saplings when the soil is moist. 

If you succeed in pulling the seedlings or small trees out of the ground, remember that these trees and other invasive plants will take advantage of any disturbed soils to germinate their seeds.  So instead of leaving a patch of disturbed soil to germinate new invasive plant seeds, consider having some sort of native plant(s) ready to immediately plant in place of the former pear invader.

Callery pears that have escaped cultivation (meaning they probably sprouted from seeds disbursed by birds).  These trees are on the edge of a former cultivated field.

 Native Alternatives


There are several native trees that are excellent substitutes for Callery pears.  They include: serviceberry (Amelanchier species), hawthorne (Crataegus sp.), redbud (Cercis canadensis), Dogwood (Cornus florida) and crabapple (Malus coronaria).

Bottom line is this -- by all means, go out and plant several trees this weekend to celebrate Arbor Day.  Just select your trees with regard to the environment.  Natives are all-around winning selections.  But if you go with a non-native cultivar, please do your homework to make sure you are not buying a cultivar that is likely to “escape cultivation.”  Happy planting!