A recent article in the New York Times by Robbie Brown describes the challenges Atlanta is facing now because of “a severe drought, a series of powerful storms, a surge of invasive species and pests and the natural deaths of older trees planted during the creation of the city’s first planned neighborhoods in the early 1900s.”

As the story notes, some residents call the tree loss “Treepocalypse.”

Below are excerpts from the story, which can be read in its entirety on the New York Times’ web site.

“The sprawling canopy of magnolias, water oaks and pines that earned Atlanta the nickname “The City in a Forest” is looking significantly thinner these days.

Trees cover 27 percent of Atlanta’s space, so the number of trees down has raised concerns. The city charges up to $1,000 to cut one down.

Giant hickories have fallen. Hundred-year-old oaks are dying. And thousands and thousands of less recognized trees have ended up in the woodpile after a brutal season that arborists describe as a perfect storm for this city’s famous leafy landscape.

In any city, people would carp about blocked roadways or damaged roofs. But in Atlanta, trees mean more. With 27 percent of the city covered with trees, Atlanta charges up to $1,000 to cut down a single one, even with permission. You need only flip through an Atlanta travel brochure, with its references to Peachtree Road or the Dogwood Festival, to understand why Jasen Johns, a city arborist, says, “Trees define Atlanta.”

…

Soon comes the task of replanting. But for now it is too hot, according to Trees Atlanta, a nonprofit group that has planted 75,000 trees since the 1980s. So instead the group is signing up volunteers for the fall and holding fund-raiser events to support buying more trees.”

Filed under: Tree City USA

Tags: education, planting, street trees, yard trees