Background
In 2005 the city received a grant from Cinergy for a tree planting program that was part of Cinergy’s carbon sequestration program. Metro Parks began to explore ways to attract more resources to the planting and caring of trees. A small study group was formed of Metro agencies involved in tree-planting and maintenance. That group quickly expanded to include multiple external agencies and E.ON U.S. It was determined that Community of Trees be organized under the management of Brightside. It was also determined that a city tree plan should be developed with emphasis on planting, maintenance and education.
Community of Trees builds on past efforts to improve the city’s treescape that began in a 1989 street tree management program and a 1994 urban forest task force report. Limited resources hampered the implementation of those findings.
In today’s climate of increased attention on environmental stewardship the time is right to apply all these years of research into significant environmental initiative that will have measurable outcomes in this current administration and impact 100 years to come.
Purpose
Listed on the following page are some of the most compelling reasons trees are clearly an important community asset. However with so many other issues competing for valuable resources we have to make a strong case that this is a priority issue. This means assembling an excellent team of community leaders and setting forth a clear plan with both short range attainable goals as well as long range goals that have significant impact on the quality of life for our residents.
Vision
- Create and fund a comprehensive master plan for Louisville Metro that will preserve and proliferate trees.
- Establish a citizenry who value trees as a needed community asset.