Urban Forestry

Herald-Leader article

03.13.2009

My article on trees, ice storms and power is available at the Lexington Herald-Leader.  Comments on the article are welcome at Sustainable Kentucky. You may want to see the first part of my slide show “Ice, Trees and Power”  Part 2 will be available this evening.

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Ice, Trees and Power, Part I

03.09.2009

The worst ice storm in Kentucky’s history struck the state in early February 2009, wiping out power to nearly 1 million homes and businesses. In urban areas, most power outages were caused by trees striking power lines. In my op-ed piece to appear in the Lexington Herald-Leader, I argue that most damage due to ice [...]

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Urban Forestry cut from final stimulus bill

02.13.2009

The $790 billion stimulus bill, now out in final form, does not include funding for urban forestry improvements that were in the original House version of the bill. The original bill included funding within wildlands fire management that could provide urban forestry funding: $550,000,000… for State fire assistance hazardous fuels projects, volunteer fire assistance, cooperative [...]

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Urban trees can help reduce stormwater problems

11.20.2008

Urban trees have many environmental benefits, from improving air quality and reducing urban temperatures to increasing feelings of well-being. Scientists at Virginia Tech have shown that roots of urban trees can penetrate compacted soils and allow stormwater to infiltrate better into soils. The work, published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, is part of a [...]

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Houston will plant a million trees in recovery from Hurricane Ike

10.20.2008

Hurricane Ike devastated the urban forests of many southern and midwestern cities, none more than Houston.  The city lost tens of thousands of trees, including many old, stately and highly prized trees. Now, Houston has unveiled an ambitious plan to plant a million trees in the next five years, revitalizing Houston’s urban forest. Half of [...]

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Protecting old and historic city trees

10.14.2008

Lexington, Kentucky is home to a remarkable number of large old trees. Many, like the one in my back yard (pictured), are planted. My white oak is over 200 years old, but was probably planted in the front yard of an old farm.  There are also many old-growth or presettlement trees.  These trees, including bur [...]

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Dawes Arboretum loses trees in Ike’s winds, including 200 year old white oak

09.18.2008

The beautiful Dawes Arboretum in Newark, OH, lost  many trees last weekend in the high winds at the edge of Ike.  Winds up to 70 mph knocked down exposed trees, and when those trees came down, they took other trees with them. Dawes lost 32 trees from their collection, including many sugar maples (Acer saccharum).  [...]

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Ike’s winds take down trees across the country

09.15.2008

Hurricane Ike knocked down trees from Texasto Northern New York over the weekend. Here in central Kentucky, we had no rain, but strong winds up to 60 mph knocked down trees throughout the region. Falling trees knocked down power lines, leaving more than 39,000 homes without power, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. I looked at [...]

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