TREES GET BACK ON TRACK
Arbor Day, the annual tree-planting celebration that several Central Florida communities will mark today with festivals and sapling giveaways, may hold more significance this year in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
Irma swept into the region Sept. 11, uprooting, knocking down and destroying tens of thousands of trees, state forestry experts say.
“Arbor Day is important every year,” said Bonnie Stine of the Florida Forest Service. “But because of the hurricane, it’s probably even more important this year. Arbor Day can be the start of our recovery process as we try to replace what was lost in the storm.”
Local events dovetail with a campaign launched in October by the Arbor Day Foundation aimed at getting millions of trees back in the ground following devastation from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. The initiative aims to plant 5 million trees over the next five years in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
National Arbor Day is observed each year on
the last Friday in April, but the annual celebration in much of Florida takes place on the third Friday in January. Mount Dora, which launched a “Trees Needed” campaign in November to add 100 trees to its canopy, held a ceremonial planting Friday. Events in other cities are set for today.
Tree saplings will be available for free to residents at festivities in Clermont, Tavares and Windermere, which is hosting its 14th annual “Treebute,” a festival with music, arborists and a tree-climbing competition behind Town Hall.
Many more Central Florida communities, including Orlando, celebrate trees and nature in April, sometimes around national Arbor Day but often on Earth Day or, in Apopka’s case, during the city’s annual Art & Foliage Festival.
Still, January is optimum tree-planting time in Florida, said Theresa Schretzmann-Myers, who serves on Windermere’s tree board.
“If you want your trees to have the best chance at survival, you plant them now,” she said Thursday after a ceremonial planting of a live oak by preschoolers. “By April, it’s too hot, too humid, too stressful for the trees.”
Known for its shady tree canopies, the town of 3,300 residents is among 179 communities in Florida, about 20 in Central Florida, recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.
To earn the tag Tree City USA, a local government must have a tree board or department, pass a tree ordinance, spend at least $2 per capita on trees or tree care and celebrate Arbor Day.
“Trees are simply amazing,” said Danny Cohn, a spokesman for the Nebraska-based foundation, dedicated to tree planting. “They’re renewable resources. They clean air and water, prevent species loss and feed the human soul.”
Irma’s winds felled an untold number of trees in Central Florida, contributing to the massive pile of debris in the hurricane’s aftermath. Others harmed by the storm had to be taken out.
For example, Seminole County inspectors evaluated trees for damage after Irma — especially along roads — and removed those deemed to be a danger to the public.
“We’ve been selectively replacing damaged or destroyed trees on a case by case basis,” said Rick Durr, manager of the county division of Greenways & Natural Lands.
In Orlando, which has spent more than $70 million on trees since 1976 when it first won recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation, the city has an ongoing “energy-saving trees” program that offers residents free trees to plant at their home and advice on where to plant them.
“Since Irma, we continue to heavily promote the energy-savings trees program to help engage residents in replanting, restoring and growing our tree canopy,” said Jessica Garcia, a city spokeswoman.
Trees can help keep a home cool in the summer by both providing shade and cooling the air around the trees, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
While Orlando has held Tree City USA distinction for 40 years — longer than any other Florida municipality — Tavares is bidding to earn the recognition for the first time.
The city, honored last year by America in Bloom, hosts an Arbor Day event today at Wooton Park.
“I think it’s very appropriate following on the heels of Irma,” said Traci Anderson, the city’s landscaping specialist.