Celebrating the Great Outdoors Trees Atlanta’s Mission Extends Beyond Earth Day

survive very well in difficult conditions. That’s different from putting in a lawn that requires pesticides and herbicides.”

Lawrence Richardson, another senior volunteer, pointed out that shade helps to moderate temperatures in the midst of highdensity urban development and that trees benefit the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.

Richardson also leads BeltLine tours and speaks to community groups—and he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Some of the trees planted along the BeltLine bear his touch.

Elaborating on his path to involvement: “After moving here in 2007, I wanted to do some planting and gardening, and being from up north I really didn’t know a lot about southern soil and plants. I thought (getting involved with the group) would be a good way to learn.”

Learn he did, as he took the group’s “Treekeepers” course and then built on that knowledge. He was named Volunteer of the Year in 2014.

Co-executive director of the group

Greg Levine is also bullish about the help older adults have provided. He said they helped plant about 7,000 trees last year in 70 different neighborhoods in Atlanta and nearby cities. Volunteers also aided in reforestation in some 30 green spaces, wading into such tasks as removing aggressive and invasive species such as Chinese Privet.

Sussman, for his part, does data collection on the city’s urban forests to answer such questions as, “Are trees previously identified or planted still standing and are they properly marked?”. Others serve on teams giving at least two years of followup care to relatively new plantings.

And “we have a senior who is helping us write and communicate our strategic plan,” said Levine.

Then there’s the advocacy piece.

Richardson is a member of the Atlanta Tree Conservation Commission, whose website outlines a role in assisting in “the protection, maintenance and regeneration of the trees and other forest resources of Atlanta.” The group also oversees educational and other programs and hears and decides appeals of administrative officials’ decisions.

With a rewrite of the city’s tree ordinance pending, he has firm ideas on what he’d like to see done, calling “disjointed” the current process for appeals from city decisions on how new and existing trees should be handled in the course of residential and commercial construction.

“By the time the city arborist gets involved on whether trees should be removed, plans often have already been approved,” he said, adding he’d like to see a more “team-focused” effort. He said he understands that the city has recently gotten the arborist division involved earlier in the process, but more work needs to be done.

Levine’s thinking lies along similar lines.

He believes regulations should reduce disturbance on residential lots; he’d like to see the allowance for disturbance maxed out to 60-65%. Levine also wants better regulations for planting trees in parking lots that includes a goal of 50% canopy coverage, as well as better protection for longer-lived native species. That protection would require creative solutions to design around existing trees.

Levine said he’s been involved for 24 years and with a degree in landscape architecture, his passion has long been for nature and forests. He lamented that “a lot of projects remove forests for not-the-most attractive buildings and designs. I want to make urban areas better working with landscape architects.”

Preservation is indeed one goal of the group’s “One Million Trees” initiative launched on Feb. 20, but it’s far from the only facet. The effort will also include trees planted on both city land and public projects and others installed by residents and businesses on private property.

“Trees” plans to fold in ten nonprofit groups in what’s billed as uniting diverse communities and approaches in a fight against climate change as well as environmental stresses stemming from urban growth. They aim to finish the farreaching campaign within 10 years.

Older adults helping with the group said that above and beyond such lofty goals, getting involved is just plain fun.

“You meet a lot of great people from all walks of life,” said Richardson. “There’s a common purpose, exercise and fresh air. You learn a lot about the city and the people and neighborhoods.”