Local tree huggers looking for help

BigTree Challenge Fledgling group looking for both members and legacy trees Story and Photos By Larry O'Connor

To put a twist on legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler’s adage: a-half, advocates have planted 150 new trees in the city, thanks to DTE Energy Foundation Planning Commission set up a two-member panel within its ranks — Steven Kirk and all things trunked and leafy perhaps explains what is fueling the outcry over the proposed Those who admire the leaves will be Northville Tree Champions. “We went through several names: ‘Tree Stewards, Tree Friends,’” said Dave Gutman, who is a charter member of the new advocacy group. “We thought Northville Tree Champions put strength into it.” The sapling of an outfit is looking to branch out and snag new members. Gutman (pronounced “Gootman”) has enlisted fellow Northville Sustainability Team member Jim Porterfield along with Planning Commissioners AnnaMaryLee Vollick and Thom Barry. The group’s mission is to educate people on the value of trees, and how to care for and protect them. Members want more trees in the city. Overall, trees help reduce noise, absorb stormwater runoff, increase property values, and improve mental and physical health, Gutman says. Within the past year-andTree Planting Grants, a program administered by the state Department of Natural Resources Forest Resources Division. Trees and their voluminous canopies are the jewels in Northville’s idyllic setting, which is immediately noticeable while taking a stroll through one of its tranquil neighborhoods. “I think it is part and parcel to our small-town charm, our Victorian DNA,” Gutman said. To coincide with the Tree Champions’ launch, the Vollick — to pore over the city’s ordinances to see if those need enhancing for tree preservation. Such comprehensive efforts are drawing notice. Northville has earned Tree City USA recognition for 17 years, including 2020 and ’21. To be considered, the Arbor Day Foundation program requires communities to have a city department or tree board, maintain a public tree care ordinance, budget at least $2 per capita for tree care and celebrate Arbor Day. Northville’s vigilance for 49-acre Downs development, which calls for 459 new housing units and 16,000-17,000 square feet of commercial space at the harness race track site. Developer Hunter Pasteur pledged to make the project fit Northville’s historic character. “The Downs proposals as it stands today, of those 49 acres, 34% of that will be greenspace,” Gutman said. “This will be either in terms of a river park or the central park area that is being planned, and all that obviously will be adorned with trees up and down as they develop that whole property into a green area.” The Tree Champions want to be involved with tree selection for the Downs project, so they match in terms of size and are resilient. “We don’t want the Downs and the rest of Northville to seem like two different countries. We want it to be one Jim Porterfield of the Northville Tree Champions is looking for legacy trees in the City of joint community.”Northville, including this sycamore (above) and a giant silver maple on Eaton Street (top right). Meanwhile, Gutman’s cohort

A sign marks a dawn redwood tree on West Street. The species was thought to have been extinct for 20 million years before being rediscovered during the mid-1940s in southcentral China.

Porterfield is interested in introducing the masses to Northville’s legacy trees. There are quite a few.

The 55-year resident kicked off an informal tour with a 115foot behemoth that stands near the Northville Public Library on northwest Cady and Wing streets.

The prominent Augustine Ascending Elm has a circumference of 149 inches. Porterfield speculates the hybrid was planted during the early 1920s.

Porterfield pointed to an area on the trunk that’s being treated for Dutch elm disease, a malady that first appeared in the 1950s and peaked in the ’70s. The plague is one of three to ravage the U.S. tree population during the last century or so, the other being the American chestnut blight at the onset of 1900 and the Emerald Ash Borer amid the early 2000s.

“Someday this will succumb,” said Porterfield of Northville’s rare Augustine Ascending Elm, which may be the largest of its kind in the state. “Let’s hope it is a long time from now.”

From there, the retired arborist showed off a dawn redwood on West Street. The species was thought to have been extinct for 20 million years before being rediscovered during the mid-1940s in southcentral China.

The dawn redwood is second only to the panda as a conservation icon in China, according to the Save the Redwoods website.

From the tallest, Porterfield steered his tree pilgrimage to the pudgiest. To tie a yellow ribbon around a silver maple on Eaton Street would require a relay team. The tree’s width measures a hefty 187 inches.

On Rogers Street, the branches on a black walnut appear sturdy enough to hold a three-story Colonial, never mind a treehouse. The circumference is 183 inches and Porterfield estimates the tree is more than 100 feet tall.

“This tree is really the biggest tree in Northville, all things considered,” he said.

Porterfield issued a stark warning: All big trees carry an element of risk. Gazers should be on the lookout for falling branches and limbs.

Through Porterfield’s knowledgeable eye, one appreciates the history of trees and the need for their preservation.

He sought out two otherwise non-descript Ginko trees outside of the Northville Community Center on West Main Street. The species is one of the oldest surviving around, known as a “living fossil.” The Ginko’s existence dates to before the time dinosaurs roamed the earth 245 to 66 million years ago.

Porterfield’s voluminous knowledge is matched by rugged hands-on experience.

A pair of looming Norway spruces give an Orchard Drive house a distinct Scandinavian flavor. “I’ve actually climbed those trees,” he said, noting the rigorous feat required ropes and pulleys.

The second-generation specialist (Porterfield’s father Owen was a tree surgeon) worked with the family’s AAA Tree Service for 20 years before he started a consulting business Porterfield Tree Care in 1996.

The 1974 Northville High graduate was a two-way tackle on the football team, wrestled as a heavyweight, and holds the school shot put record (52-9). He earned his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University.

He embraces the “tree hugger” sobriquet, which critics tend to utter in derision at environmental types. “Like (Dr. Seuss’) the Lorax, somebody has got to speak for the trees because they have no tongue,” said Porterfield, 66. “It’s got to be people-oriented, too, because safety is an issue. Property values and practicality are also involved because people are trying to build here.

“At least for what I am trying to do, people and trees are part of the equation.”

People interested in joining Northville Tree Champions may contact Jim Porterfield at jimportertree@gmail.com

The Northville Tree Champions also promote the planting of new trees, like these ginkos along Main Street.