Save the Trees, Save the City

Culvert City in Los Angeles was featured in CityLab's article "You want your city to thrive? Look to its trees". It is a very informative, quick read that highlights the valuable information we can learn about our urban forests through the i-Tree program developed by the USDA.  Check it out and find out the economy value of the trees in your yard and throughout your community. 

The article also highlights the value of old-growth trees to the overall health of cities and the need to have an urban forest master plan to ensure our cities' forests thrive for future generations. 

Of course, most interesting to us is what CityLab had to say about tree maps -- and it is all good: 

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"Mapping exercises are incredibly useful for urban forestry," says Pamela Palmer, a landscape architect and president of Artecho, the design firm that's working with Culver City on its plan. "They help us fine-tune which trees to plant where and identify areas where a change in planting strategy is needed." Herbertson adds that easy-to-read maps and charts generated from Culver City's tree inventory have been effective tools for generating public interest and feedback, and believes they'll encourage buy-in and approval from the city council.

And not to put too fine a point on it, they reminded us that:

Increasingly, cities have recognized that trees provide not only environmental benefits and curb appeal—they're also good for business.