The Leaflet — August 2011

Casey Trees News

leaflet

the

August 2011

BEAT THE HEAT SEE PAG

E5

In this issue...

2 Emerald Ash Borer Outbreak in MD

How will it affect D.C.’s ash population?

3 Citizen Forester Spotlight

Get to know Kevin Kelso and sign up for a CF class.

4 Arbor Kids on the Go Update 5 Bread for the City Food Program 6 Beat the Heat this August

UFA’s new shade tree planting initiative.

7 Tree Watering Tips & Devices 8 Benefits of the Urban Forest

Discover the cooling effects of large shade trees.

10 Casey Trees’ New Irrigation System 11 Kids Corner

Urban Tree Canopy Goal

Tree Rebate increased for large canopy trees

C

asey Trees has enhanced its Tree Rebate program and will now offer rebates up to $100 per tree to individuals who plant large canopy trees on private property in the District. Seven genus and 27 species — mostly native hickories and oaks — qualify for the increased rebate. Rebates of up to $50 per tree will continue to be available for small and medium canopy trees.

“By offering an increased rebate amount, we hope to incentivize residents and business owners to plant more large-canopy trees because they provide greater environmental benefits,” said Jim Woodworth, Director of Tree Planting.

The program, funded by the District Department of the Environment provides rebates to individuals who purchase and plant a tree in D.C. Rebate requests must be accompanied by a completed coupon

pledging to water and care for the tree for a minimum of two years and the tree purchase receipt.

Under the new enhancements, individuals will be able to submit a rebate request for trees planted on nonresidential property in the District.

Trees must continue to be planted on private property and not on public property such as in street tree boxes, triangle parks or traffic circles. The maximum of three trees per property has also been eliminated.

Invasive species and ash trees should not be planted and do not qualify for the rebate. Dwarf trees and shrubs are also ineligible.

Additional information, including complete program guidelines, a full tree selection list and participating nurseries, and printable Tree Rebate coupons are available online.

Casey Trees continues to regularly monitor D.C.’s progress toward its Urban Tree Canopy Goal of 40 percent by 2035. Here are the totals as of July 7.

Casey Trees-planted trees in 2011:

0 1, 5 1 8 Casey Trees-planted trees since 2002:

1 0, 6 9 7 Trees planted by all since 2002:

2 1, 0 7 6

Casey Trees in the News Read these stories on Casey Trees.

“Take Ten to Save Trees” - NBC Washington, July 13, 2011 Casey Trees statistics in summer tree watering story.

“Casey Trees Among Seven Community Organizations to Benefit from Bag Charges” - Georgetown Patch, July 14, 2011 Funds going to planting programs.

Maryland's emerald ash borer outbreak could affect D.C.'s ash trees

I

t takes only a tiny insect to cause serious tree damage.

Agrilus planipennis, commonly known as the emerald ash borer (EAB), is one such insect. A small, invasive beetle native to Asia, its existence in the U.S. dates to 2002 and was first found in Maryland in 2003. Since then, Maryland’s Department of Agriculture has issued a quarantine of hardwood firewood and all ash tree materials in affected counties.

Recently, the quarantine, which includes neighboring Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, has expanded, leaving the Eastern Shore the only area untouched by the pest.

How does this affect D.C.’s trees?

A recent study in Ecological Economics estimated that cities could spend more than $10 billion in the next decade to manage the EAB threat and replace infected or dead trees. According to our 2006 iTree Eco survey, EAB could cost the District as much as $87 million in replacement costs and foregone ecosystem services (e.g. carbon sequestration).

D.C. homeowners would be affected most. While ash trees in parks and open space are five times more

A tree with typical EAB infestation. Image courtesy of flickr (jclucier).

numerous than on private property, the average ash tree on a residential lot is more than five times larger (in leaf biomass).

you keep a stack of firewood for your stove or fireplace, do not transport the firewood. Doing so can spread EAB.

Given our close proximity to Maryland and economic ties with the state’s landscaping, nursery and timber industries, the threat of EAB spreading to D.C. is very real.

In addition, do not plant ash trees. One alternative is the Chinese pistache, which provides similar foliage and autumn color as the ash. Planting a variety of tree species helps diversify the urban forest, reducing the risk of EAB infestation.

The infestation starts with the arrival of adult EABs, but its larvae are the real culprits. Larvae feed on the tree, stopping vital nutrients and water flow, eventually killing it in one to three years.

If you think trees or firewood on your property may be infected, please contact the District Department of the Environment. Contact the Urban Forestry Administration if you notice street trees with signs of infestation.

There are two effective ways you can help limit the spread of EAB. If

August 11

Weathering Storms: Minimizing Damage to Trees & Property From severe thunderstorms to snow and ice, D.C.’s weather can threaten your trees — and subsequently your private property — year round. Join us for this month’s episode of Tree Talk Thursdays, Casey Trees’ free online chat forum, featuring Keith Pitchford, Founder and President of tree care consultant Pitchford Associates, and Casey Trees’ Urban Forestry Manager Sara Turner.

Time: 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.

Pre-register and receive a reminder for the session. Email questions in advance to treedc@caseytrees.org or submit them during the chat session.

2

August 2011 | theleaflet

Citizen Forester Spotlight

As a child, Kevin Kelso appreciated trees - now he plants them

E

ver since he was a child, Citizen Forester Kevin Kelso has had a passion for trees. A native to Des Moines, Iowa, Kelso says one of his earliest memories “is looking out the window of the car… and seeing the towering trees on either side of the road forming a green archway overhead.”

In 2007, Kelso acted on his love for trees and attended one of Casey Trees’ free classes, Introduction to Trees and Inventory (now called Trees 101). He has been a committed Citizen Forester ever since, qualifying as a Lead Citizen Forester in 2008 and attending more than 40 Community Tree Planting (CTP) events.

After moving to D.C., Kelso was shocked by satellite images showing For Kelso, planting with the District’s diminishing tree canopy Casey Trees is always a “rewarding that appeared in The Washington experience.” He loves tree planting Post. They were the same images events because they present an that moved philanthropist Betty Brown opportunity to meet new people Casey to establish and visit different Casey Trees in “Planting trees makes neighborhoods. He 2002. Kelso was says that there a lasting improvement also concerned for the is a meditative District’s trees and that will be enjoyed by quality to tree began following generations to come.” planting: “mundane the efforts of Casey concerns are Trees, “fascinated by its street tree displaced by the focus on getting that inventory project.” tree in the ground.”

Programs and classes

Visit Casey Trees' Calendar of Events webpage to sign up for the following events. All programs and classes are free unless otherwise noted. Advance registration is required for all events and space is limited.

Sure, planting events are selfgratifying for Kelso, but his motivations for volunteering with Casey Trees are also altruistic. Unlike all too many of us, Kelso grasps the long-term effects of our interactions with the earth. He takes pleasure in knowing that the reconstruction of D.C.’s canopy will create a “lasting improvement that will be enjoyed for generations to come.”

Attention Current CFs! Want to help spread the word about Casey Trees’ programs and events? Help us staff our event booth at:

• Columbia Heights Day (Aug. 27) • Adams Morgan Day (Sept. 11) • H Street Festival (Sept. 17) • Barracks Row Festival (Sept. 24) • Crafty Bastards (Oct. 1) If you can volunteer two hours of your time, email Christopher Horn or call 202.349.1902.

ALL CLASSES ARE

FREE

Citizen Forester-Qualifying Classes

Pruning Events

Stand Up For Trees*

Lafayette Elementary School

Casey Trees Staff Sat., Aug. 27, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Casey Trees Headquarters 3030 12th St. NE

Learn what advocacy tools are available through the District’s municipal services, hear success stories and receive advice from community leaders.

Tree Planting*

Casey Trees Staff Sat., Oct. 1, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Location TBD

Learn how to select and prepare a tree planting site, choose appropriate species and properly plant a tree to ensure its survival.

A field component follows.

NOTE: Pruning events are for Citizen Foresters only and online registration is not available. If interested, email Shawn Walker or call 202.828.4132. theleaflet | August 2011

Casey Trees Staff Sat., Aug. 20, 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Patterson St. & 33rd St. NW Meet at ball field

Massachusetts Avenue Memorial Garden

Casey Trees Staff Sat., Sept. 17, 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Fulton St. & 35th St. NW Meet at park by the intersection 3

Turn celebrations into opportunities to do good New Staff Member

Mark DeSantis Development Associate mdesantis@caseytrees.org 202.349.1896

Warm weather brings with it some of life’s most celebrated happenings — births, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, family reunions and more. No matter the event, you can commemorate it in a lasting and meaningful way by asking friends, family members and guests to make a gift to Casey Trees in lieu of presents.

You can also thank individuals for

helping you to celebrate a special occasion, their hospitality or being a good friend by making a donation to Casey Trees in their honor. Financial gifts made to Casey Trees will support creating a green legacy in D.C. Learn more by visiting our website or calling the Development Department at 202.349.3470.

After receiving his B.A. in public communications from American University in May 2010, Mark worked in communications and development at Island Press, a nonprofit environmental publishing house in Washington, D.C. Mark is enthusiastic about joining the Casey Trees team and looking forward to helping improve the city’s tree canopy.

Arbor Kids on the Go sees success in first summer of program

A

rbor Kids on the Go is in full swing! Instructors Sophia Shiaris and Liz Ball have been busy all summer teaching District youth about the urban forest.

So far they have visited 31 camps, completed 119 educational sessions and reached 1,009 kids. With nine camps remaining, the new program is about halfway through its first year.

Now is the perfect time to catch up with the instructors and see what they can share with us about Arbor Kids on the Go! Q: What is your favorite part about Arbor Kids on the Go? A: Getting to be outside every day and playing with kids. There is never a dull moment, and we have learned so much about D.C. through going to different places and meeting hundreds of different kids.

Q: Why is it important to teach our city’s youth about trees?

A: A lot of these kids are getting bombarded with issues of global 4

warming. What we are trying to do is develop a passion for something they can actually see and interact with so that they will have a stronger desire to help rather than be desensitized to all of the issues.

Q: How do you beat the heat during

Arbor Kids on the Go sessions?

A: Playing with water! One of our favorite lessons is called “Watering Trees.” The kids learn about how important water is to a tree’s health and then we water trees through a relay game.

August 2011 | theleaflet

Summer Crew reaching tree care goals ahead of schedule

T

here are only two weeks left for Casey Trees’ High School Summer Crew and this session’s team is doing a great job.

As of July 29, crew members have logged 4,638 “tree touches” — the number of trees crew members care for — shattering last year’s record of 4,510 touches, with more trees still on the schedule.

The students have also participated in three career development days, which they received as rewards for reaching their weekly tree-touch goals.

Crew members and Casey Trees staff continue to document their experiences caring for trees on Casey Trees’ blog, Tree Speak.

Bread for the City's fruit tree gleaning program seeks help Bread for the City (BFC), a local nonprofit partner of Casey Trees dedicated to providing food for residents in need, picks (or “gleans”) fresh fruit for its clients in orchards graciously donated by growers in the Washington, D.C. area each year.

This season BFC needs volunteers to identify trees on public and private property that are ripe for the plucking and also to help organize volunteer squads to get it done.

For those interested in helping BFC, email gleaning@breadforthecity.org today!

Photo courtesy of Bread for the City. theleaflet | August 2011

5

Beat the Heat

WITH CASEY TREES — AUGUST 2011

N E E R G O T Y A R G D N A K C A L B M FRO A new initiative by the City aims to replace areas of dense L

ike any city, street trees are an integral part of D.C.’s urban forest.

The Urban Forestry Administration (UFA) is responsible for the care of the estimated 130,000 street trees in D.C. UFA has been adding to this number, planting on streets previously lacking in dense canopy.

Spanning all eight Wards, the twopart initiative — called Impervious Surface Reduction and Green Median Renovation — focuses on removing of excessive asphalt and concrete in order to make space for new trees. Both projects are funded by an American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grant provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and administered by the District Department of the Environment (DDOE). Impervious Surface Reduction is the larger of the two endeavors and concentrates on creating sidewalk tree boxes, not only along city streets but also at some D.C. public schools. Smaller in scale, Green Median Renovation looks to

asphalt and concrete with trees in public spaces across D.C.

add topsoil and trees on select street medians.

To date, Impervious Surface Reduction and Green Median Renovation have removed 55,730 and 28,322 square feet of asphalt and concrete, respectively.

Scheduled through September, the project is likely to be extended until the end of the calendar year.

In an effort to lengthen the project Median and street tree plantings in the photos above are not of actual UFA plantings, but are similar to the results of the current initiative.

into next year, future funding is currently being pursued through the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Enhancement Fund as well as DDOE’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Except in areas where infrastructure or current canopy may obstruct future growth, shade trees constitute the majority of the UFA’s plantings, substituted by underwire or small, fruit trees only when needed. Shade trees have widespread, dense canopies and can grow to heights of more than 25 feet when fully mature.

They also decrease storm run-off and erosion, helping to improve local streams and waterways.

When the project is complete, the UFA will have greatly increased canopy along roadways that previously lacked shade trees and their environmental benefits. Of course, the new trees will eventually provide some much needed shade relief to pedestrians on hot, sunny days, too.

6

August 2011 | theleaflet

WATER YOUR TREES!

August is hot! Remember to practice 25 to Stay Alive

To transport water to trees: • Use a hose. If you have a hose connected to a water supply you are in great shape. Conquer any distance by attaching hoses together.

• Get creative. Use old buckets or water cooler jugs to transport and pour water.

• Carry water in a wheelbarrow or wagon. Hand-propelled vehicles lighten any load.

• Use teamwork. Enlist neighbors, family and friends to form a tree watering brigade.

To properly water trees: • Install a slow-release watering bag. Use slow-release watering bags that hold the recommended 25 gallons of water. Watering bags can be purchased at most home improvement, garden and nursery stores.

• Use a funnel. Funnels effectively pour water into watering bags and reduce waste from spilling.

• Turn a hose on a low trickle for half an hour. If you do not have a slow-release watering bag, set up your hose to run on a low setting. You can stick around or walk away, but remember to turn the water off after you are finished so that you do not waste water or over-water the tree.

• Make your own slow-release watering device. Add holes to the bottom of a bucket and place at the base of a tree. You can fill it up and then walk away.

Street trees in your neighborhood also need to be watered. The Urban Forestry Administration relies on residents and businesses to water street trees in front of and adjacent to their property. Call 311 to receive a free, 10-gallon watering tub that fits around the trunk of a young tree.

theleaflet | August 2011

7

Cool Shade in a

Hot City Shade trees cool homes, decrease energy costs and help

J

uly was the hottest month on record in the District and The Weather Channel recently declared Washington, D.C. one of the hottest cities in the country. Ranked number six, D.C. typically experiences an average summer temperature of 86.2 degrees, with about 37 days at 90 degrees or above. And that does not take into account the capital’s brutal humidity, which can make the air feel 10 degrees hotter than the thermometer’s measurement.

Casey Trees promotes the planting of shade trees because of their environmental benefits. In fact we require 60 percent of trees planted through our Community Tree Planting program be large canopy species.

Need more reasons to plant more trees?

• Shade trees provide oases on hot summer days spent outdoors.

8

• Homes shaded by trees spend 10 to 30 percent less on air conditioning costs than homes without shade.

Use our Tree Benefits Calculator to determine how much your tree is saving you.

• Planting three deciduous trees strategically around

your home can save you between $10 and $250 per year on cooling costs.

• Buildings shaded by trees save between 3.6 and 4.8 kilowatt hours every day.

• The District’s existing tree canopy currently save us more than $2.6 million in air conditioning costs per year, and those savings only increase as our tree canopy grows.

• Polluting storm-water run-off can be reduced by up to 65 percent when trees are combined with other natural landscaping.

August 2011 | theleaflet

Adding trees can also help improve the climate of the city as a whole Washington, D.C. is classified as an urban heat island (UHI), a city that is significantly hotter than its surrounding suburban and rural areas. The phenomenon occurs when grey infrastructure replaces vegetation.

So what’s the solution? Trees, trees and more trees. A large tree canopy not only helps absorb solar energy, it also cools the air through evapotranspiration, the process of evaporating groundwater to the air through a tree’s roots and leaves.

Los Angeles, the worst urban heat island in the U.S., has created a comprehensive approach to lowering its average summer temperature by five degrees. Tree planting is at the root of the plan.

Learn more by reading our Green Issue Briefs.

Above: The sun beats down over the National Mall (Image from flickr, courtesy of Nicolas Karim).

Right: Examples of how large trees shade residential property, providing cooling benefits.

Urban Heat Island in Washington, D.C. A recent study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shows that land temperatures of Northeastern cities are typically 13°F to 16 °F higher than their surrounding suburban areas. This phenomenon, known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect, is largely due to the lack of an urban forest. When urbanization rapidly replaces forestation, there is nothing but grey infrastructure to absorb solar energy and temperatures subsequently rise. Considering the District’s 64 percent decrease in tree canopy coverage from 1970 to 1999, it is no wonder our city is so stifling hot. Indeed out of 42 surveyed U.S. cities, D.C. is home to one of the top five worst UHIs in the country. theleaflet | August 2011

9

RAINFALL REMEDY

The new irrigation system at Casey Trees' headquarters has been helpful during periods of low precipitation this summer.

C

asey Trees staff recently installed an irrigation system for the headquarters’ bioretention planter and green roofs. The new system will help water the trees and other vegetation when there is little or no rainfall.

Casey Tree Farm Nursery Manager Bryan Mayell, who recently intalled a similar system for the young trees he is growing at the Farm, managed the installation.

The tubing has holes in 18-inch increments. Each hole has a slowrelease mechanism that ensures water isn’t wasted and that the trees and understory plants survive the rest of the hot, dry summer.

10

August 2011 | theleaflet

Kids Corner

summer swelter When you are not cooling off by the pool or in the air conditioning, consider sitting under a tree while you read a book or eat lunch. You may be surprised by the cooling effects of trees. Visit the Casey Trees Arbor Kids page for more downloadable activities.

1

theleaflet | August 2011

Take an outdoor thermometer and measure the temperature under the sun.

2

Now, move to a nicely shaded spot and measure the temperature there. Note the difference between the sunny and shaded locations.

3

Another (and more fun!) way of visualizing the temperature difference is to measure the time it takes an ice cube to melt in both the sunny and shaded locations.

11