"I Think That I Shall Never See. . ."

Environmental Stewardship For Trees

Linda B. Rimer, Environmental Stewardship Committee Chair

Do you remember the famous poem by Joyce Kilmer that began with this statement? Perhaps you, like me, had to memorize it back in grammar school. Re-reading that poem recently prompted me to write this article because I realized that the poet presaged a descriptive word for trees that we commonly use today to describe ourselves - multi-taskers.

Kilmer described in his poem the aesthetics of trees, the symbiotic relationship between trees and the water and soil that compose our earth, the habitat that trees provide for wildlife. Yet there are many other tasks that trees provide. Consider some of the following contributions that trees make as part of God's creation. Trees:

• Improve our air quality: by absorbing and reducing air pollutants such as airborne dirt and chemicals, e.g., nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone, by reducing the emission of carbon from energy generation because trees make us cooler, reducing our need for air conditioning.
• Help to protect our climate: by absorbing carbon dioxide, which is a primary compound contributing to global climate change.
• Improve our water quality: by slowing and absorbing the water that runs off from the impervious surfaces of urbanized areas. These waters frequently contain fertilizers and pesticides from landscaped lawns, oil, and even sewage. The fibrous root systems of trees hold soil in place, preventing it from washing into our streams and rivers during heavy rains.
• Create wildlife habitat: trees supply food, water, and cover for a variety of animals. These habitats range from streamside buffers to backyards and parks.
• Reduce noise levels: trees deaden the sounds from traffic, lawn mowers, and loud neighbors.
• Decrease our individual energy costs by providing shade in the summer and wind breaks in the winter, thereby reducing our cooling and heating needs.
• Reduce our community-wide energy needs by lowering the summer temperatures of urbanized areas, the so-called "urban heat" island effect.
• Increase community prideby enhancing our sense of place.
• Improve our health and sense of well being.
• Increase our property values.
• Provide recreational opportunities for walking, biking, running, and hiking. (References available upon request.)

Can you picture our world without trees? Imagine, if you can, Chapel Hill in the spring without dogwoods or red buds, or in the summer without our big oak trees. Picture Vermont in the fall without sugar maples. Think of northern California without its giant sequoias. Then consider this: between 1990 and 2002, North Carolina lost more than one million acres of forest - an area greater than Wake, Durham, and Orange counties combined. This loss was largely due to urban sprawl (US Forest Service). According to the World Resources Institute, more than 80 percent of the Earth's natural forests already have been destroyed.

The Environmental Stewardship Committee invites you to reflect on all that trees mean to you and what they do for us as individuals and as a community. Then commit to becoming better stewards of this amazing part of creation, God's original multi-taskers!