By Donna Beth Weilenman, Staff Reporter for the Benicia Herald
The Benicia Tree Foundation aims to plant 1,000 trees in Benicia by the end of 2012, said Wolfram Alderson, executive director.
“We’re just getting started,” Alderson said of the project to increase what he called Benicia’s urban forest. “We’re close to 10 percent of the goal.”
The initiative is being supported by residents called Tree-Keepers, who work with the tree foundation to encourage planting, maintenance and education.
Tree-Keepers make a $50 donation that’s credited toward their first tree planting project whenever they’re ready, Alderson said.
“If every family in the United States planted one tree, we could reduce the CO2 (carbon dioxide) of the atmosphere by one billion pounds annually,” said Ed Brennan, a consulting arborist who volunteers his expertise to the Tree-Keepers initiative.
“This is almost 5 percent of the amount that human activity annually contributes to the atmosphere.”
Brennan has been helping local property owners select appropriate trees to plant.
The initiative doesn’t require a property owner to choose a native tree, Alderson said, although those often are wise choices because they’re drought-resistant.
Read the entire story in the Benicia Herald by clicking here.
