Give Arkansas a Christmas present
We l l , since its Christmas, the peak of the gift giving season, I’m sure gifts are on your mind. Of course, you’re wondering if you have forgotten anyone. Yes, and not only that but you want to be sure you have given the perfect gift to everyone on your list, so think about who and what as you read this column, and consider, have you given your old home state, Arkansas, a gift? Give a gift that the state of Arkansas really needs and wants.
I think most of us have an altruistic spirit within us, which of course means we have a desire to do something that benefits others not only ourselves, but the problem is that the opportunities are either too difficult, or they just aren’t available. What if, by joining with others across the state you could make a truly meaningful contribution to our state and give a Christmas gift that is really needed and wanted.
Let’s look into a relatively simple way to achieve that. First an example: A couple of decades or so ago the Mayor and City Council of Chicago made a commitment to plant 1,000,000 trees within the city limits of their town. Of course, the reason was to achieve a combination of natural beauty vs. blank parking lots, sidewalks or Inter-state right of ways, and as a bonus the trees would counter the cities air pollution and reduce utility bills in the city.
I had an opportunity to visit Chicago before the program started, and since then I have been back several times. However, on a recent visit I took a close look at downtown Chicago, and when I compared it to the before the pre-tree planting plan, it was a real visual eye-opener. The trees planted in the first years of the program were large enough to visually change a blank cityscape into an impressive, urban leafy canopy. Yes, they had met the challenge of 1,000,000 trees, actually several years ago, and now they are “Give us a call, we’ll come and plant a tree in your front yard—for free.” Yes, the 1,000,000 tree planting program was so successful that the City officials were bombarded with requests for trees.
I guess, if this had happened in the Natural State, say in Little Rock, we might not be shocked, but in concrete-city Chicago? No way! Wow, what a great example for The Natural State. Yes, we have cities big and small that are planting a few trees, but we’re just scratching the surface here in Arkansas.
However, it’s not like we not doing any planting, it’s just that we can do more, and we have some help on the way. The Walton Family Foundation is providing a grant that will allow 2000 trees of 50 species to be planted in Bella Vista, Bentonville, Centerton, Gravette, Pea Ridge, and Siloam Springs. The Foundation has a wonderful history of providing grant money to plant trees, and thousands of trees have been planted because of their generosity.
Well, do we need more urban or yard trees in our state? Of course we do! Take one look at our entryway streets in every city in the state, and if you can keep from throwing up, plant a tree or a hundred trees.
Sure we can do better, and since most of us live in or close to a forest, where there are millions of surplus trees, right there for the picking, finding a tree to plant is easy. After I saw what the City of Dallas had planted with cypress trees and landscaping, I was inspired with ideas for the area around the new downtown arts district. I walked about two hundred yards to a small lake behind my house and dug up 8 small cypress trees and replanted them in downtown El Dorado. Yep, every one of them lived and they are doing fine. (Actually, when I saw the cypress trees being planted in Dallas I was surprised, but after I planted them in downtown El Dorado, and they thrived, I realize cypress trees make good urban landscaping trees, and they don’t need to be in the edge of a lake to grow.)
Here in the Natural State we take our trees for granted and ignore the tremendous benefits available. If we will all just plant a tree, we will see a difference. An infra-red aerial survey over almost any town in the country has an urban hot spot of increased heat that emits from the mostly bare city centers. Studies have shown as much as a 25% decrease in utility bills can occurs when an urban area plants a canopy of leafy trees that shelter the sidewalks and streets, plus there is a bonus in tree planting that isn’t only in the ambiance, but in the actual drawing in of customers to shopping areas. Our downtowns are the original shopping areas in the almost every city in the state, and a tree lined landscaped shopping center or street draws in the shoppers according to a Government survey.
Yes, that’s the Christmas present I would like to see us give our state, which is one that we can easily afford and do, and if a number of individuals around the state join in, the numbers will mount up and the program will be hugely successful. What if everyone in Arkansas committed to plant one tree a year? Or maybe what if only a third of us committed to plant one tree a year? That would be over 1,000,000 new trees in our state each year. What a giant step in becoming even more “The Natural State”. This Christmas, give the Natural State a gift, of planting a living tree. So let’s make that commitment.
Well, our El Dorado Mason Family has committed to plant 20 trees. Do I have any other commitment? If your city or you as an individual will commit to plant trees this year let me know. Email me your number of tree planting commitments, and I’ll post the total numbers in future columns. Give Arkansan a gift this year. Plant a tree!