A Petition for Stronger Tree Protection in Huntsville

To: Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Members of the Huntsville City Council

CC: Members, City of Huntsville Tree Commission

We are fortunate to live in a city that, in many ways, is a good city. That is clearly why it is the fastest growing municipality in Alabama and projected to become the largest in the state in just a few more years. We are encouraged to hear that the city's governmental leadership team is aiming at making Huntsville not only the largest but also the best city in Alabama. One key question, though, is how "best" should be defined.

Many residents, including the undersigned, think that environmental factors are one dimension that makes Huntsville a good, livable, desirable city. And, we further believe that maintaining a healthy and beautiful environment is one major way of keeping Huntsville a great place to live.

Much is already being done in this regard. The Landscape Management Department, Operation Green Team and other city departments are working hard to keep Huntsville beautiful and green. Likewise, there are similar efforts by many citizens, civic associations and other organizations. The fact that the city government has a Tree Commission also shows that the environment is a priority here.

However, we feel that qualities such as a vital, healthy environment and livability in general can decline in incremental amounts which aren't obvious unless one is watching closely. And, we feel that more can be done in the environmental area in order to maintain Huntsville's status as a good city, aiming at being the best in the state: specifically, measures to protect and promote trees as a key element in the urban environment. Clearly, trees have always been and continue to be a major part of the city's beauty and livability. That's obvious from ground level observation as well as viewing aerial images. It's also clear, however, that the city is continually losing trees because of factors such as storm damage, new housing and business construction, utility line clearance, age, and disease. Trees are also cut down by residents based on concern that they pose a risk of property damage, or have just become an inconvenience.

We feel these losses aren't being consistently compensated for by replacement activity.

Some examples over the last year can be seen in the 700 and 1300 blocks of Randolph Avenue, the 800 block of Pratt Avenue, and the 1500 block of Ward Avenue, where mature trees on city right of way have been cut down and not replaced.

A gradual attrition in the city's tree population means shrinkage of the overall tree canopy, which will clearly have environmental consequences. One result will likely be something that weather and environmental scientists call the Urban Heat Island phenomenon. A short definition of UHI is: significant warming of an urban area, caused by human activity, primarily the modification of land surfaces. The phenomenon has been extensively studied by scientists including at least two from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. A more detailed explanation of the UHI phenomenon, plus additional documented benefits of trees in the urban environment, are described in a Further Reading List attached to this letter.

For reasons including those cited above, the undersigned would like to see, as a minimum, two changes and one related action be implemented by Huntsville City Government:

● Clarify language in the municipal code to require that when trees on city property are removed, an equal number of trees are to be planted in the same location or as near thereto as practical, as the trees that were removed.

● Include in the annual city budget sufficient funding to enable more proactive tree planting and tree replacement by the city on Huntsville public lands. (Present policy, in practice, is to require that residents who wish to have trees planted on public land, such as a city right of way which adjoins their property, pay for the purchase of such trees.)

The National Arbor Day Foundation, which confers the Tree City USA designation, sets the bar for annual spending at $2 per capita. For Huntsville that would be $390,000 a year.

● Request that the Huntsville Tree Commission survey and review the tree ordinances of other municipalities, determine if additional changes to the tree provisions in Huntsville's code would be appropriate, and if so make recommendations in that regard to the Mayor and City Council. (For example, establish a special protection status for designated "Heritage Trees," based on factors such as age, size, species and location.)

These measures would be a step in the direction of making tree protection a higher priority for Huntsville, and toward maintaining the city's status as a beautiful, comfortable and healthy place to live.

Thank you for your consideration.