Thursday 22 December 2016

Let It Grow And Keep It Trimmed!

We can't stress the importance of trees more. We need them in order to live. They purify our air, they provide us with lumber and they also provide us with food. While you need to make sure you are properly maintaining any trees on your property with trimming (http://www.allcleartree.com/trimming) or even removal (http://www.allcleartree.com/removal) if they've died, it's also important to plant new trees when you can. It's been said that for every tree you cut down, you should plant two in return.

Officials Are Stepping Upseedling

San Diego officials have certainly understood that saying and are working towards putting a bit more green into the scenery:

San Diego officials began planting 500 street trees in urban neighborhoods on Thursday to boost the city’s “tree canopy” and help meet some goals of its ambitious climate action plan.

“When we plant more trees, we are making our neighborhoods greener and our air cleaner,” Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. “Every additional tree gets us a step closer to reaching our goal of creating a sustainable future for generations of San Diegans.”

The trees are being funded by a $750,000 grant from the California Department of Forestry.

The grant also covers hiring consultants to conduct a citywide inventory of all street trees and to use lasers to determine the city’s tree canopy — the overall coverage of San Diego by trees.

The laser survey found canopy coverage is 13 percent —  nearly double the previous estimate of 6.8 percent using satellite imagery. That puts the city closer to meeting a goal of 15 percent coverage by 2020 in the climate action plan, which was adopted last year.

“Trees help to reduce our carbon footprint, but more importantly they contribute to beautiful, walkable neighborhoods and communities,” said Cody Hooven, the city’s chief sustainability officer.

City officials are also encouraging residents to help by planting and caring for trees in their front and back yards.

“Trees are incredible multi-taskers and provide so many environmental benefits like sequestering carbon dioxide, capturing storm water, reducing energy costs, extending the life of pavement, increasing property values and providing habitat for wildlife,” said Jeremy Barrick, the city’s urban forestry program manager. “We need everyone to water and maintain the trees we have and plant new trees where appropriate.”

The 500 street trees will be planted along Market Street, Imperial Avenue, Ocean View Boulevard, 25th Street and 47th Street. They are projected to collectively capture roughly seven million pounds of carbon during their lifespans.

Via: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/sd-me-government-1202-story.html

Go Ahead and Breathe Easier

It's always nice when the city does it's part to make the environment better. Officials are working hard to plant an impressive number of trees. You can help by choosing to plant your own trees in your front or back yards. You can make it a family-thing with your kids or you can think of it as a way to leave your mark. Trees can live for hundreds of years. In some families it's a bit of a tradition to plant a tree for each member of the family. That tree grows with the family member and continues on long after. Many families plant trees or other plants in remembrance of those who have gone on before. It's a beautiful idea and it not only keeps the persons memory alive but it also serves as a living monument. What a nice idea!

Let It Grow And Keep It Trimmed! is republished from allcleartree.com



source http://www.allcleartree.com/trimming/let-grow-keep-trimmed

Friday 9 December 2016

Bring Out Your Dead: Trees That Is

When you live surrounded by, or even close to, nature you will often find yourself in a predicament. You don't want to be Buddhist enough for bugs to freely come and go from your home.You've also got to think about what you'll do if the trees you're surrounded by end up dying. If you live in California you've got the very real concern about dead trees drying out and feeding the forest fires that have been sparked by the ongoing droughts.

What Can You Do About It?

While you may be a concerned citizen,  you probably don't have a million dollars to address this problem. So what can you do? Well, that's where the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in California is coming into play:

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in California announced Monday it will provide financial assistance for private landowners with dead and dying conifer forest trees in certain counties, including San Diego.

“The dry conditions posed by California’s ongoing drought have increased the potential for devastating wildfires and insect-related tree mortality,” said Carlos Suarez, NRCS California state conservationist.

“In the upcoming year, NRCS will continue and expand our 2016 forest recovery efforts by initially allocating $4 million for tree mortality projects,” he said. “We will also provide additional forestry staff to meet the overwhelming demand for assistance.”

Landowners with dead trees on non-industrial private conifer forestlands in Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tulare and Tuolumne counties may be eligible for financial assistance through the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

The Forest Tree Mortality Initiative is focused on removing dead trees on larger, severely damaged, private forestlands. Applicants will need to develop a Forest Management Plan for their property, which must be a minimum size of one acre and at least 100 feet wide.

Applicants with more than 20 percent of their conifer forestland property covered with dead trees will receive priority funding consideration.

An approved NRCS Forest Management Plan for tree mortality will not include tree removal on lands within 100 feet of homes, and applicants should contact their county’s tree mortality task force about opportunities for removing dead trees around residences.

Via: http://timesofsandiego.com/life/2016/11/07/have-dying-conifers-cash-for-removal-offered/

Next Steps

It's great to know that the USDA is stepping to assist with such a serious problem. Dead trees are, at times, a massive fire waiting to happen. The stress that comes from living surrounded by such kindling can never be good. The question becomes: who is going to do the actual work?

It's recommended to leave tree removal to the professionals and not attempt it yourself. We're trained for these situations and can safely remove the trees clogging up your backyard. It might sound like a simple job, but a lot of thought is required. Long gone are the days when you could just tie a rope around the base of a tree and haul it out with your truck. That is only going to damage your vehicle and potentially cause thousands of dollars of damage. We live in a world where there are services we can access for this kind of help. Don't you want to use them?

Bring Out Your Dead: Trees That Is is available on ACTS Blog



source http://www.allcleartree.com/removal/bring-dead-trees