Lockport NY

4th Ward Alderman Andy Chapman is looking to promote tree planting.

Hoffman says he’s all for the city’s re-entry to the program, if for no other reason than it could be another avenue to securing saplings. The forestry department budget includes $1,000 a year for new trees; that buys about eight trees on average, not nearly enough to replace what’s lost every year.


Since January 2006, according to forestry statistics, city workers have removed 626 diseased or dead trees from public property, mostly from the grassy areas between sidewalks and streets. In the same period, they planted about 100 new trees, purchased mostly from a $10,000 bequest to the city by a former resident.

I've been thinking of writing on the topic for a while but never got around to taking one of the pictures I wanted for the post.

Re-Tree WNY was formed after the October Storm to help replace all of the trees that were lost. So far they have planted over 10,000 trees. When I called they said that Lockport was not part of it. AS part of this process this is something the city should look into.

$1,000 for 8 trees is not the biggest abng for our buck, nor is it going to help keep our tree canopy intact.

Trees are free, or very cheap if planned ahead. The city can by real small saplings for around $10 per tree. Find a piece of city property where a city tree farm can be created to nurture (water) them until they are ready to plant. One could envision it as a volunteer or student effort. I mentioned it here about a year ago when a similar effort was started in Buffalo.

A nice effort by Chapman. I'll revist trees later in the week.

UPDATE 03/29/10:
Buffalo News Reported.