Recently in Urban Heat Islands Category
On Tuesday, the California Climate Action Registry held a public meeting to discuss the latest version of the Urban Forest GHG Project Reporting Protocol. We had a very good turnout, both in person and online with the Webcast. A number of excellent suggestions were made and noted by the Registry representatives. We think that it would be helpful to reiterate those comments in writing to strengthen the case and provide support in the future should it be necessary.
Subject: Urban Forest GHG Project Reporting Protocol
Performance Threshold
In the Protocol version released July 8, the performance thresholds required of municipal, campus, and utility entities were 0.72% annual net tree gain, 0.58% annual net tree gain, and 0.004 trees planted annually per residential customer, respectively. We believe these levels are too high and would be a significant barrier to participation.
At the public meeting, the Registry indicated that it was considering setting the performance threshold for municipalities and campuses at a level that would require the existing urban forest to be maintained at least at its current population. All project trees that exceeded this level could be registered for credit. The threshold for utilities would be reduced to zero as it is not common practice for these entities to offer tree planting programs.
We support setting the performance thresholds at these reduced levels as we believe they properly represent better-than-average performance.
Co-Benefits: Greenhouse Gases, Energy Production
Although we recognize that for reasons of accounting and accuracy, the Registry cannot verify GHG benefits associated with reductions in energy use due to strategic tree planting or with the use of tree residue for bioenergy, we feel these benefits add significant value to tree planting projects in comparison to other GHG reduction measures.
We therefore urge the Registry to emphasize the value of these benefits in the reporting process and to provide a place on the reporting forms for their estimated value to be entered.
Benefits of Trees
In addition, trees provide many other benefits, some of which can be quantified, such as
- reduced energy costs,
- stormwater runoff reduction, and
- air quality improvement,
and others that can be described qualitatively, such as
- conservation education,
- improved human health,
- neighborhood revitalization,
- job training, and
- recycling green waste.
These additional benefits also add significant value to tree planting projects.
We therefore request that the Registry emphasize the value of these benefits in the reporting process and provide a place on the reporting forms where their estimated value can be entered and a qualitative description can be provided.
Other Types of Entities
Currently, the Protocol only allows for projects undertaken by municipalities, utility companies, and educational campuses to be registered. Often, however, other entities, in particular nonprofit tree advocacy groups, take the lead in spearheading tree planting projects.
At the public meeting, two potential concerns for including other entities were mentioned: the questionable longevity of other entities, especially nonprofit organizations, and the lack of available data for setting a performance threshold. We note first that the entire premise of the Registry relies on assuming the longevity of the nonprofit Registry itself. Therefore, we consider this concern to be shared equally between those doing the reporting and those accepting and verifying the reports. We encourage the Registry to determine whether sufficient historic data exist and whether a suitable matrix can be developed to create a performance threshold before deciding to exclude other entities.
We therefore encourage the Registry to consider adding other entities, in particular nonprofit tree advocacy groups, to the list of participating entities.
SOURCE: California Releaf
Watch a 6-minute trailer for the DVD "Planting the Vision" below.
> Watch the Natural Heroes Fruit Tree Tour Promo on the Natural Heroes site
A couple elegant, tall, stately trees are my constant companions as I type to you. When my eyes need a break from the computer screen, they turn to these two friends. I watch their leaves dance in the wind. And turn a million shades of green as the seasons give them new life, abundant growth and then sap their maturity and cause them to flutter to the ground in the late summer and autumn breezes.
Yes, I love trees. Not just because of their beauty...but because the more I learn about trees, the more I admire their everyday work, their community spirit and their productivity. They take sunshine and rain from the sky and turn it into food for butterflies and birds and mammals and yes, us.
They crack rocks open with their delicate new roots. They create pathways for water and nutrients to filter down into deeper and deeper layers of soil. And then they shed their leaves annually to create compost and new soil.
Trees give shade. They give fruit and nuts. They give twigs to the birds to build nests. They give deer scratching posts. They cradle homes in their branches for birds and beetles and spiders and lizards... and some even grow in swamps and lakes and give homes to fish and frogs and snakes.
Tall trees like redwoods pump moisture up to the tipty tops of their branches further than engineers have been able to duplicate with our high tech pumps.
... have you caught the tree fever yet? Do you have a favorite friend outside your windows that gives you graceful, gentle respite? I hope you do...and if you don't, I hope you will plant one and watch it grow into a stately young adult...rejoicing with it every season and dancing with it on every breeze!
California ReLeaf monitors state and federal legislation in order to inform the urban forestry community of opportunities to influence public policy on behalf of urban trees.
In 2006 California ReLeaf hired a professional lobbyist to assist with its state-level efforts. As a result of its work, $20 million was designated for urban forestry programs under California Proposition 84 passed in 2006.
California Releaf also coordinates California ReLeaf Network, an alliance of urban forestry groups throughout the state. This alliance has been instrumental in raising the profile of urban forestry in the state and a key part of California ReLeaf's advocacy strategy.
BACKGROUND
California ReLeaf was founded in 1989 as a program of the Trust for Public Land and was incorporated as a separate 501c3 nonprofit in 2004.
California ReLeaf works statewide to promote alliances among community-based groups, individuals and government agencies to protect the environment by planting and caring for trees. It also serves as the state's volunteer coordinator for urban forestry in partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Programs and services include:
* Coordinating California ReLeaf Network, a statewide alliance of urban forestry groups
* Administering a state grant program
* Publishing a quarterly newsletter, California Trees
* Providing assistance, information and referrals to individuals, organizations and agencies on urban forestry management issues
* Monitoring state and federal legislation and keeping the urban
forestry community informed of opportunities to influence public policy
on urban forestry
COMPONENTS
Hiring a professional lobbyist
From its inception, California ReLeaf was involved in advocating on
behalf of urban forestry. In 2006, California ReLeaf decided that
hiring a professional lobbyist would greatly improve effectiveness at
influencing state legislation on urban forestry.
Since California is a large state with a wide range of environmental issues, California ReLeaf, with a staff of three, found it difficult to stay on top of all the issues and proposals that affected urban forestry. Although California ReLeaf had many partners who worked with them on urban forestry issues, it needed someone to spearhead its efforts.
With the encouragement of other urban forestry groups, California ReLeaf hired a lobbyist who specialized in conservation issues and was willing to work with them at a reduced rate.
Martha Ozonoff, Executive Director of California ReLeaf, says that this decision has been critical in its advocacy efforts.
"Hiring a lobbyist has definitely increased our ability to be effective. You can lobby on your own. You are not required to have a professional lobbyist. But this has helped us stay on top of fast-paced decisions and has given us inside information about what different legislators are interested in and how to approach them. Our lobbyist has helped us see where we can connect to other environmental issues," Ms. Ozonoff says.
Ms. Ozonoff says whether or not your organization needs a professional lobbyist may differ from state to state. She recommends talking with larger environmental organizations in your state that have lobbyists on their staff such as the Trust for Public Land, the Nature Conservancy or the Sierra Club. Get recommendations from them on whether or not you need to hire a lobbyist and on potential candidates.
Making your case
Once the lobbyist identifies what legislation to follow and who the key
players are, California ReLeaf meets with key players including
legislators and their staff, testifies at committee hearings, sends
letters and emails, makes phone calls and encourages organizations in
the California ReLeaf network and other groups to support legislation
and other relevant initiatives, including funding propositions.
Ms. Ozonoff emphasizes that working with a network of urban forestry groups brings enormous value in supporting advocacy initiatives. California ReLeaf Network has approximately 90 member organizations located throughout the state. This allows California ReLeaf not only to harness the support of more constituents throughout the state, but also helps them target voters in specific localities where key legislators reside.
Funding
California ReLeaf funds its advocacy efforts through private foundation
monies in its general operating account. Government funds cannot be
used for lobbying.
RESULTS
California ReLeaf is particularly proud of its advocacy efforts which helped to ensure that "at least" $20 million funding was designated for urban forestry under Proposition 84 passed in 2006.
In addition, in 2007 California ReLeaf helped spearhead a letter-writing campaign thanking Governor Schwarzenegger for restoring $10 million to the Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program, which provides public funds for urban forestry and other natural resource projects that reduce the impact of transportation projects on local communities. This year, the funds are being presented as part of the Governor's budget, thereby virtually assuring their passage. California ReLeaf believes that its "thank you" campaign may have played a part in the governor's decision.
California ReLeaf is currently sponsoring a bill in the state legislature to update the state Urban Forestry Act of 1978. This will be the organization's first effort at sponsoring legislation.
LESSONS LEARNED
1. Research your state to determine whether or not you need to hire a lobbyist. California ReLeaf says hiring a lobbyist was essential for them.
2. Nonprofits CAN advocate and lobby. Don't be paralyzed by the fear of violating IRS rules. Read the regulations and get advice but remember that both advocacy and lobbying are allowed within certain limitations. The rules may not be as restrictive as you think.
3. Advocacy and lobbying is easy. Do not be intimidated by the process.
4. You are the expert on your cause and its most passionate supporter. Make use of that.
5. Remember to say thank you to all the people who support your efforts.
6. Stay on top of legislation. Understand the process and realize that changes can happen quickly and often. You need to be vigilant.
7. The benefits of advocacy are enormous. It raises the visibility of your cause and your organization. It helps refine your message and increases your organization's credibility and reputation.
Contact Information:
Martha Ozonoff, Executive Director
California ReLeaf
P.O. Box 72496
Davis, CA 95617
Phone: (530) 757-7333
Fax: (530) 757-7328
The planting was the third NeighborWoods planting of the year around the city, said Diane Losavio, executive director of Baton Rouge Green. Jared Liu, director of programs at the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Community Trees that oversees the NeighborWoods program, was on hand to help with planting and to discuss the connections between affordable housing and trees.
Liu said a landscape plan had been developed to place the right trees in the right places around the houses. A tree that provides ample shade planted close to a home can cool it down in warm weather, reducing energy costs, he said. "And shaded homes will sell faster," he added.
Losavio said volunteers planted a mixture of nuttall oaks, willow oaks, sweet olives, magnolias, red maples and crape myrtles around the houses on East Polk Street.
Residents are scheduled to move into the houses within the next few months, said Richard Murray, director of the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority. Four of the 14 houses will be rented to tenants, Murray said. The other houses will be put on the market to sell at prices ranging from $79,000 to $99,000.
Rose Netter, 62, who will be moving into a house on the corner of Polk and Kansas streets, came out to watch the planting Saturday. "I'm very emotional," Netter said. "I'm just so moved to see all the people that are helping." A first-time homeowner, Netter currently lives in her mother's house, down the street from the development. She will be moving into her new house with her daughter and granddaughter, she said.
Kristina McCray, 21, volunteered Saturday with other members of Delta Sigma Theta, a public service sorority at LSU. "I never knew how to plant trees before," she said as she spread mulch over the base of a red maple. "And it's helping the community." There were some veteran planters in the crowd, such as 17-year-old Malavika Balachandran.
Picture by Travis Spradling/The Advocate
Stephen Shurtz, left, a urban forestry and landscape manager with the
city-parish Department of Public Works, helps LSU Delta Sigma Theta
sorority members Courtney Boss, center, and Kasielynn Smith, right, as
they tug a tree out of its pot before placing it into a pre-dug hole.
The McKinley High School senior has helped out with many plantings since starting an environmental club at her school. Wearing green gloves, she and her sister, Devika Balachandran, 15, prepared the hole for the tree, breaking up clumps of clay with spades. "We didn't have to dig the holes today," Malavika said thankfully. "That takes a really long time."
Related Resources:
The Advocate
East Polk NeighborWoods Tree Planting
Baton Rouge Green
Planting a billion trees is an astonishing number! The Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees Campaign will preserve and restore Brazil's Atlantic Forest.
The threat is dire. "No tropical forest on earth has come closer to total destruction," says Claudia Picone, an information resource coordinator for The Nature Conservancy.
The Atlantic Forest is a spectacularly complex and biologically diverse expanse of tropical rainforest on the coast of Brazil. Once twice the size of Texas, only 7 percent of the original forest remains—it has been ravaged by ranching, illegal logging, agriculture, and other pressures.
The campaign to plant one billion trees in the Atlantic Forest continues The Nature Conservancy's mighty efforts to preserve the very special ecosystem. According to Picone, "We've finally turned the corner, and people are starting to realize that there are economic benefits to leaving the forest standing instead of cutting it down."
Since The Nature Conservancy's founding in 1951, it has protected more than 117 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers around the world. The group has more than a million members and works in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.
Give to the Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees campaign
www.plantabillion.org
The City of Los Angeles has the country's largest roadway and sidewalk system with 6,500 miles of streets and approximately 10,000 miles of sidewalks. And Los Angeles also has the largest urban forest with a population of nearly 700,000 street trees.
A successful sidewalk program includes
tree planting. Trees shade sidewalks and the adjacent streets to reduce heat. Urban areas can be as much as 10 degrees warmer than surrounding open areas, so every tree -- especially MATURE tree counts.
The overall goals of the program are to:
- Provide safer and more accessible transit surfaces for pedestrians.
- Improve street drainage.
- Maintain a healthy, safe, and sustainable urban forest.
Los Angeles, CA has a longstanding policy of replacing every tree removed from sidewalk areas with a minimum 2 to 1 replacement ratio. The Bureau of Street Services uses every sidewalk retrofitting opportunity to expand the future tree canopy coverage by planting every available site within the sidewalk repair area. Where there is no room to replant trees, vacant planting locations are identified on adjacent streets to plant more than the 2 to 1 replacement ratio.
In the City of Los Angeles, replacement street trees must be 15-gallon size containers or larger. Using larger trees minimizes the occurrences of vandalism and gives the trees a much better chance of surviving.
All trees are planted using root deflection devices, which will help
reduce future sidewalk damage. However, the most critical decision for
reducing future infrastructure damage is proper species selection.
A municipal arborist is invaluable in selecting species that are
compatible with each site. Consider hiring an arborist that is knowledgeable with the trees in your area.
Trees are the muscles of urban landscapes. They provide a wide array of benefits to individual homes, neighborhoods, and the city at large. A wide variety of trees -- from forests at the outskirts that absorb and filter pollutants -- to flowering dogwoods and climbing trees -- all add livability to urban living.
The hard working "tree" is even more important today, with our concerns about air quality and climate change. If you have room to plant a tree -- in a yard, on suburban or rural property, or even in a container on your deck -- you have the opportunity to contribute to the restoration of our natural forest-covered earth's natural air, water and soil system that is self-healing.
Trees reduce carbon dioxide in the air, thereby reducing the warming “greenhouse” effect of the gas, in two main ways. First, as they grow, they take carbon dioxide out of the air and transform it into roots, leaves, bark, flowers, and wood. Over the lifetime of a tree, several tons of carbon dioxide are taken up (McPherson and Simpson 1999). In fact, trees are the only known feasible way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Even if we were able to switch immediately to fuel sources that do not emit carbon dioxide, the current levels in the air are higher than at any time in the past 400,000 years, according to the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change, and because of the long “lifetime” of carbon dioxide, will remain so for decades or even centuries.
Second, by providing shade and transpiring water, trees lower air temperature and, therefore, cut energy use, which reduces the production of carbon dioxide at the power plant. Two-thirds of the electricity produced in the United States is created by burning a fuel (coal, oil, or natural gas) that produces carbon dioxide–on average, for every kilowatt hour of electricity created, about 1.39 lbs of carbon dioxide is released (eGRID 2002). It is certainly true, as Dr. Duffy states, that not emitting carbon dioxide in the first place is a good strategy. Lowering summertime temperatures by planting trees in cities is one way to reduce energy use and thereby reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
SOURCE: Eco Preservation Society
PROBLEM: Urban heat contributes to climate change and air pollution
SOLUTION: Plant and care for more trees -- and keep them healthy for longterm maturity. Mature trees provide more benefits than young trees.
If you know the name of a tree you want to consider and need more information, you can find great detailed information at your local university Extension Centers. But if you don't know tree names, you can use some of the online directories to help you select the right size, shape, color, seasonal cycles...and even the kind of seeds, nuts or fruit possible with your new mini-forest.
Trees are vital to urban livability. Trees provide shade to cool city hardscapes, they provide watershed replenishment by reducing stormwater runoff, and they provide habitat for local wildlife -- and children -- be they wild or not so wild. (Children benefit greatly by having a favorite climbing tree!)
The University of Illinois Extension provides a great directory of trees by SIZE, TOLERANCE, EXPOSURE, USE and PESTS at their website: Selecting Trees for Your Home: BY SIZE
PROBLEM: Improperly selected tree species is the greatest cause of early demise of mature trees.
SOLUTION: Select trees for their mature size and shape -- and then maintain them for longterm benefits of shade, water retention, air pollution filtration and higher property value!
