Norwalk should not rank last for trees

Norwalk’s urban forest made headlines this week, first for having met the standards to qualify as a Tree City USA for the 15th consecutive year, along with a 13th straight Growth Award for environmental impact and a higher level of tree care. In addition, the Norwalk Tree Advisory Committee received an $18,500 “Restoration and Resiliency Grant” from the Keep America Beautiful Foundation toward the purchase and planting of 16 large canopy trees in SoNo.

The rest of the news was troubling, however. The latest analysis by planners from the Western Connecticut Council of Governments ranks Norwalk’s tree coverage at 39.2 percent, down from the U.S. Forest Service’s 2008 estimate of 56.1 percent. Compared with other municipalities in the region, that puts our city last.

Statewide, Norwalk ranked in the bottom 10 for impervious surface cover, with 32.6 percent of the city covered with pavement. Given the current building boom — 983 apartment units under construction, with 1,392 more to come — that number is bound to increase. Meanwhile, the state project to widen Strawberry Hill Avenue may add to the tree body

count.

More pavement and fewer trees add up to higher rates of asthma, air pollution-related cancer, and respiratory symptoms. Norwalk’s rates are already higher than the national average, according to a 2014 study by the state Department of Public Health.

Trees clean the air. They also cool it. They reduce runoff, help mitigate flooding, and raise property values. They lower crime and strengthen neighborhoods, as scientists found when trees were planted at some of the nation’s most notorious housing projects.

Trees are good for both our physical and mental health. Abdominal surgery patients have shorter hospital stays and require less pain medicine if their bedside windows overlook trees rather than brick walls. Simply looking at pictures of trees has been shown to reduce anxiety and improve concentration.

Chris Martin, Connecticut’s state forester, says trees are “an essential part of livable cities and towns” that contribute to a sense of place, encourage physical activity, and “provide a connection to nature deep within the heart of even the most urbanized neighborhoods. Children grow up with trees exciting their sense of adventure and wonder, while adults recognize the solidity and reassurance of long-lived trees.”

Between 2005 and 2017, the Norwalk Tree Planting Program oversaw the addition of about 669 trees — not enough. Groups such as the Norwalk Tree Alliance and the Tree Advisory Committee are targeting highneed neighborhoods and seeking outside funding to beef up the $50,000 budgeted by the Common Council to pay for up to 70 new trees. The Tree Advisory Committee wants to see 250 a year. We do, too.

Developers should be required to plant trees proactively to offset the impervious surface their projects produce. Even so, it will take a concerted effort by all — neighborhood groups, civic organizations, local businesses, school children, and homeowners — to improve Norwalk’s canopy coverage and with it, our city’s health.

Developers should be required to plant trees proactively to offset the impervious surface their projects produce.