Why Trees Matter

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Why Trees Matter
The importance of trees in our communities
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The Benefits of Community Trees

• Key to environmental health
• Energy savings for homeowners
• A healthy community
• Healthier lives
• Wildlife habitat
• Trees provide food
• Protect watersheds
• Increased property values
• Promote a more successful local and regional
  economy

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Trees. Important to Environmental Health

• 100 large trees remove 53 tons of CO2/year
• 100 large trees remove 430 lbs of pollutants per
  year, including
• 72 lbs of ozone
• 81 lbs of particulates dust, ash, pollen
• Trees shade parking lots, reducing temperatures
  and lowering gas tank emissions

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How Do They Do It? Trees

• Help to settle out, trap and hold particle
  pollutants
• Absorb CO2 and other gasses through their leaves
  and replenish the atmosphere with oxygen
• Produce enough oxygen on each acre for 18 people
  every day
• Absorb enough CO2 on each acre, over a year's
  time, to equal the amount you produce when you
  drive your car 26,000 miles

Source Maryland Department of Natural Resources
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Trees. Energy Savings for Homeowners
Maryland Department of Natural Resources

• Used to provide shade and as windbreaks,
  trees can
• Save 56 of annual air conditioning costs
• Save up to 25 of winter heating costs
• Energy savings result in reduced emissions

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Trees. Vital to Community Health

• Tree-filled neighborhoods have lower levels of
  domestic violence, and are safer and more
  sociable

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Trees. Important to Human Health

• Trees reduce noise and glare
• Tree-filled landscapes reduce stress
• Trees decrease need for medication and speed
  recovery times

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Trees. Important to Wildlife

• Trees provide homes for many different species
• Fox squirrels, bats and many bird species depend
  on trees for habitat in urban areas
• Trees are an important food source for squirrels,
  bats, and birds
• Hard Mast (acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts)
• Soft Mast (berries, fruits)
• Insects associated with trees, a food source for
  birds and bats

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Trees. Providing Food

• Programs like Earthworks Urban Orchard program
  (Boston) help urban neighborhoods create fruit
  and nut orchards
• Many community gardens incorporate trees into the
  garden
• These trees can bring communities together,
  reconnect people with food production, and
  provide healthy produce

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Trees. Protecting our Watersheds

• 100 mature trees catch about
• 539,000 gallons of rainwater per year...
• Less for storm water control
• Reduced runoff and erosion
• - Cleaner water

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Trees Sell Houses (At higher prices)

• Each large front yard tree adds about
• 1 to sales price
• Large specimen trees can add
• 10, or more, to property values

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Trees Mean Better Business

• In tree-lined commercial districts...
• More frequent shopping
• Longer shopping trips
• Shoppers spend more for parking
• Shoppers spend 12 more for goods

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Trees Pay Us Back
100 Trees Over 40 Years...

Benefits Energy, Air Quality, Runoff, Real
Estate 272,000 Costs Planting, Pruning,
Removal/Disposal, Irrigation Sidewalk Repair,
Litter, Legal/Admin 136,000
Pay Off 136,000
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Do Trees Matter? A Downtown Example
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Do Trees Matter? One Street East
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i-TreeQuantifying Why Trees Matter
Visit http//www.itreetools.org
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Why Trees Matter in Xenia2007 i-Tree analysis of
1,804 street trees

• 2 million gallons of storm water intercepted,
  60,000 savings
• 3,000 tons of carbon sequestered, 6,000 annual
  carbon credit value
• Air quality savings of 9,419 (direct and avoided
  pollution)
• Energy savings (electric and natural gas) of
  55,000 or 30 per tree
• Aesthetic benefits and increased property values,
  53,323
• Average contribution of 102 per tree annually

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Tree Calculator from i-Tree
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i-Tree Demonstrating That Trees Pay Us Back!

• Trees are assets management adds value by
  increasing return on investment

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Trees Important to our health, our communities,
and our future
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What You Can Do for Trees

• Learn about trees
• Care for the trees in your yard and
  community
• Plant trees,
• the right way
• Protect trees from damage
• Educate others about the importance of
  trees
• Advocate for trees

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Tree Resources

• Why Trees Matter, OSU Extension
  treesmatter.osu.edu
• i-Tree www.itreetools.org
• U.S. Forest Service www.fs.fed.us
• ODNR Division of Forestry www.dnr.state.oh.us/for
  estry
• International Society of Arboriculture
  www.isa-arbor.com
• Ohioline ohioline.osu.edu
• OSU Woodland Stewards woodlandstewards.osu.edu
• Arbor Day Foundation www.arborday.org
• American Forests www.americanforests.org

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Why Trees Matter

• Website treesmatter.osu.edu
• Program Team Leaders
• Jim Chatfield, OSU Extension Specialist
• [phone]
• chatfield.1_at_osu.edu
• John Conglose, OSU Extension Community
  Development
• [phone]
• conglose.1_at_osu.edu

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Credits

• US Forest Service Center for Urban Forest
  Research, Pacific Southwest Research Station,
  provided the format and framework for this
  program. www.fs.fed.us/psw/
• Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Adaptations and additions were developed by the
  Why Trees Matter team, OSU Extension