Earth Day international, April 22, began in 1970 to honor the earth
Arbor Day international, April 27, began in 1983 to encourage tree planting
The Village of Brockport will celebrate its 14th Arbor Day on Friday, April 27. The tree-planting event, begun in 2005, annually involves a variety of community citizens, and public school and college students to propagate the population of municipal trees called an “urban forest”.
This year, the planting will take place at 260 State Street at the front of Allied Frozen Storage. It starts at 10 a.m. with an opening informal ceremony featuring Brockport’s celebrated world-renowned poet, William Heyen. Live music and refreshments also are offered. Then, volunteers will be instructed on digging and planting 15 trees. The work is scheduled to end at Noon. All are welcome to join in. Dress for digging, rain or shine. Shovels are provided by the college facilities crew, usually enough for everyone. Bring one if you can.
The location of the planting is a change in the intended location for this year. Planting usually occurs on Village streets, but the change was prompted by the Canal Corporation’s clear-cutting of trees on the north bank of the canal across from Allied Storage. Residents on that side are now exposed to the Allied building, its loading docks and lights, instead of seeing trees behind their houses. Another departure from the norm is planting cedar trees, which are green year-round, instead of the usual deciduous trees. Over time, the 15 seven-foot Eastern Red cedars should improve the view for residents.
The clear-cutting by the New York Canal Corporation, on the face of it, appears to be in direct conflict with the goals of sustaining an urban forest. The controversy will be covered later in this article.
The beginning: Arbor Day has roots in college-community collaboration
In 2005, while a professor of Anthropology at the College at Brockport, Mayor Margay Blackman, Ph.D., was approached by one of her student majors, Mark Beckwith, about an internship. He loved forestry, so Blackman recommended he pursue “urban forestry” in the Village, mixing trees with people and more suitable to his major.
Intern Beckwith surveyed other municipalities and suggested establishing a Village Tree Board and becoming a “Tree City USA,” a designation given by the National Arbor Day Foundation. He also suggested conducting a computer inventory of village trees and revising the Village’s trees and vegetation ordinances. All his suggestions have been accomplished with the Tree Board (see membership side bar) started in 2005 and the first Arbor Day held that same year. The “Tree City, U.S.A.” status was awarded in 2009 and each year since.
Jo Matela, Mayor of Brockport and working with Beckwith at the time, reflected, “We (village officials) saw the need to have a comprehensive plan for tree management, including an inventory of the trees,” referring to planned caring for and replacement of trees. Adding about the urban forest success to date, she said, “We have seen many benefits from this program in terms of sustainability and the beautification of our village.”
Brockport Arbor Days Planning and Funding
The overall plan for Arbor Day plantings is to place new trees where there are “blank spaces in the village,” according to the mayor. “We had about 700 blank tree spaces in village when first put them on a data base in 2006. We have planted more than 300 trees since then,” she said. “We still have 700 because there are always older trees that must come down.” (See planting locations side bar.)
Each year basic “grass roots” donations for the Tree Board raise around $400 in collection jars placed in various stores and businesses in Brockport. And, author, advocate and founder of Celebration Forest, Lori Short Staubitz, has supported the Tree Board’s work. She has contributed the proceeds from the sale of her children’s book, ‘Little Nut,’ at the Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport, Morgan-Manning House, and at the Arbor Day site. “She gave over $500 to the Tree Board in 2017 from those sales,” Mayor Blackman said gratefully. Celebration Forest held promotional events in advance of this year’s Arbor Day to support the urban forest cause.
The Tree Board’s modest line item in the Village budget was cut in the 2010-11 budget. That year $4,000 had to be raised for the planting. Starting in 2006 most of the plantings were covered by grants from the Department of Environmental Conservation, augmented by personal donations.
A three-year grant in 2014 to plant 67 trees on the South Avenue extension was completed in 2017. A 2017 grant application for planting on Holley Street was rejected. It will be tweaked, the mayor said, and resubmitted in 2018. The very ambitious application would cover: 1) the tree planting; 2) updating the Tree Board web site; 3) a photo gallery of trees to showcase the types of trees we have; 4) a village “tree walk” brochure, and 5) tree pruning workshops for the DPW and for citizens.
Trees are “political”
“Trees are inherently political,” Mayor Blackman said. She referred to the citizen protests that occurred on the second Arbor Day and on the recent clear-cutting of trees on the canal bank.
•Protesting the planting. For Mayor Blackman, the first conflict occurred on the Arbor Day 2006 on Monroe Avenue. At two locations on the street, one building owner called the mayor before the planting and threatened to destroy the tree if planted; the other tried to stop it in progress. She stopped the planting, respecting the citizens’ demands.
•Protesting the cutting. Recently, some Brockport citizens living near the canal have protested the clear-cutting of trees on the embankment. It is a project of the New York State Canal Corporation now under the authority of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), claiming the trees threaten the stability of the canal bank and create a safety hazard. In this case Mayor Blackman sided with NYPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the engineering firm that conducted the study of the canal’s embankments and concluded that “trees do not belong on earthen dams (embankments).” However, she publicly disagreed with the Canal Corporation on the implementation of their plan, calling it “a public relations disaster,” lacking clear communication and advance consultation with residents who would be affected.
•“The art of governing.” Although sounding cynical about “political” trees, the mayor is positive, as she adapts decision-making to each situation. She sees the rights of citizens here, the rights of government there, based on common sense or science, not the blind power of elected office.
Perhaps this is the “art of governing,” one Webster’s definition of “politics.” And the art of persuasion is evident, as the Canal Corporation has agreed with her six-point requests regarding the reclamation of the canal bank, including improved communication with the residents about the process.
“It looks terrible,” Mayor Blackman said about the first devastating sight of clear-cutting. “It won’t look that way forever. It has to be done in stages.” One stage begins this Arbor Day, as the young Eastern Red cedars begin to improve the view.
Note: Thanks to Mayor Blackman, Village Clerk Leslie Morelli, and Kathy Goetz for invaluable information, documents and photos. DH
Brockport Arbor Day locations/plantings
2005 – Single tree at the Welcome Center in the first year the Tree Board was established.
2006 – Monroe Avenue
2007 – Spring and Gordon Streets
2008 – Fayette Street
2009 – Lilacs in Corbett Park
2010 – High Street
2011 – Utica and Erie Streets
(The $4000 donation planting)
2012 – Barry Street
2013 – Clark Street
2014 – South Avenue Extension
2015 – South Avenue Extension
2016 – South Avenue Extension
2017 – South Avenue Extension
2018 – 260 State Street, cedars
Brockport Tree Board Members
•Melissa Brown (Chair)
•Merrill Melnick (Vice Chair)
•Chris Collier (Secretary)
•Dan Verace (DPW rep.)
•Tim Kewin
•Priya Banerjee
•Kathy Goetz
•Virginia Scime
•Anthony Scime
•Consultant Rick Lair (SUNY rep.)
•Ex-officio (founding member) Jo Matela
