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| By Erin O'Connor Staff Writer WESTFIELD - The National Arbor Day Foundation has named Westfield a Tree City USA community for the third year consecutive year. "Trees in our cities and towns help clean the air, conserve soil and water, moderate temperature and bring nature into our daily lives," John Rosenow, president of the The National Arbor Day Foundation (NADF), said. NADF in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the United States Deparment of Agriculture Forest Service sponsors the Tree City USA program. Westfield has met the four standards to become a Tree City USA community: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance. "Becoming recognized is recognition of the importance and value that the city of Westfield and other cities place on the trees in the parks, neighborhoods and community. Trees add tremendous value, both economic and environmental to every community and Westfield is being recognized as a leader not just in Massachusetts but also in the country," Rosenow said. Cynthia Hartdegen, founder of Westfield's Arboretum Project, said the project was created after support from the City Council. She said it was City Council's idea to apply for the Tree City USA honor. " [The] bottom line is Westfield is being recognized because they have identified and prioritized trees as an important part of the community infrastructure," Rosenow said. "Trees don't only beautify cities and towns, they also clean the air and clean the water, reduce energy costs increase property values and do much more and Westfield is being recognized for making a commitment for caring for and managing their community forest." "The big thing is it demonstrates a commitment from the city to pay attention to the health of the forest," Hartdegen said. "The most important thing is taking care of the trees that we have now, promoting their health, checking them for bugs." According to Rosenow, this is the 31st year of the Tree City USA Awards and every year there is an increase in the number of cities that are recognizing the importance of trees both for economic reasons and environmental reasons. Hartdegen will accept Westfield's award at an Arbor Day Celebration in Boston on April 12. She said a concern that she has is Westfield has no formal system for replacing trees in the city and that the tree ordinance is not followed very well. "There were 126 trees taken down last year and only two tree hearings," she said. "During that year there was no tree planting that was part of the city's official effort." Hartdegen said that for every tree in the city that is taken down she would like to see 1.1 trees planted. "It is nice to get the award and very useful to see what other towns are doing," she said. Hartdegen said the Arbor Project is currently working on getting approval for a grant to plant trees for social justice. More information can be found at arborday.org. |