Council Corner

Trees are Everything!

BY LEA ANNE BURKE, COUNCILMEMBER #6 (LUMBEE, SHE/HER)

“It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.”—Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner

In her lifetime, Wangari Maathai efforts to address deforestation in Kenya through her Green Belt Movement spread to other African countries, and contributed to the planting of over thirty million trees.

Trees are everything. Trees are air, food, clean water, shelter, warmth, coolness, beauty.

The benefits of trees within a built environment are well documented. Where trees are present there is a physical improvement in air and water quality, lower heat island effects, a reduction in flooding and erosion, better mental health and lower crime rates. Without care and attention, urban and suburban tree canopies and forest literally die a death of a thousand cuts.

The week I am writing this, Snohomish received $20,000 in funding through the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Watershed Resilience Plan. The DNR unveiled this new, first-of-its-kind 10-year plan for landscape-scale “Tree to Sea” restoration of salmon habitat in the Snohomish River watershed. The plan is to repeat this program to improve and restore every watershed in our state. For our small part in this program, Snohomish will use these funds towards a comprehensive street and park tree inventory. Knowing where and how many trees we have will help us identify where we can be strategic in planning future plantings and protecting the ones we have. Back around 2007, I planted two Douglas Firs in Morgantown Park. Back then, they were about two feet tall. Today, they are well over thirty feet tall, giving air and habitat, and doing their part to shade and stabilize the hillside along the Pilchuck River. I walk by several times a week and am always happy to see them. We have a lot of work to do to have and maintain a healthy tree community in Snohomish. The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

-Lea Anne

IT’S SIMPLE.

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