September 3, 2003
Urban renewal
Symposium explores tree landscape in Traverse City
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Rustling in the breeze, offering shade and shelter, trees in an urban landscape provide both a tangible and an intangible boost to quality of life.
Focusing on the benefits of the green scape in Traverse City, 14 area residents and officials gathered Wednesday for an all-day symposium on Sustainable Urban Forestry. Held at the Village at the Grand Traverse Commons, the symposium featured lectures, discussion, a bus tour of Traverse City's urban trees and a golf cart tour of the Grand Traverse Commons.
The day wound up with a planting of a white pine tree on the Commons grounds in honor of Earle Steele, a long-time groundskeeper for the Traverse City State Hospital.
Terry Mock, executive director of the Champion Tree Project, led the event. A former developer, Mock brought his forestry expertise and extensive knowledge of champion trees to the group. Mock stated that the green industry, collectively including all businesses related to nature, is larger than the all other industries combined.
"Who knows that?" Mock noted. "They are not organized and not even talking to each other."
This hidden clout could be the key to promoting sustainable urban landscapes both around the country and the world. This would benefit, he believes, everyone from city dwellers to rural communities.
Mock also hopes that the Champion Tree Project could be the vehicle to that end as champion trees would be a recognizable name brand people can rally around. The Champion Tree Project began in the region in 1996, founded by David Milarch and funded by a grant from the Rotary Charities.
Mock was hoping that the Traverse City community, given its extensive acreage in the Grand Traverse Commons and close association with the Champion Tree project, would embrace an overall vision for its urban forest.
"We have the rare opportunity to demonstrate to Traverse City and the rest of the world the very first sustainable forest," said Mock. "We could have other cities lining up to follow your lead."
"The single biggest feature of a sustainable urban forest is one we can't measure: it's quality of life," he added. "The urban forest is so incredibly intertwined and crucial to that quality of life."
Mock said the indigenous knowledge and support of the attendees in the room - who ranged from the city planner and urban forester to a member of the Grand Traverse Commons board and a found of the Champion Tree Project - was crucial.
City Planner Russ Soyring was interested in Mock's presentation, adding that much of the city's public tree management already incorporates his ideas. Whether Traverse City would take any future steps to integrating the management of its trees is unclear, but he asked Mock to follow up with additional, specific information on next steps.
"We've already had some discussion in our planning department about how in a severe environment downtown, we might want to spend some special time and money to create a foundation for the tree so it sends the roots down and not into the pavement or wrap around the sewer or water pipes," Soyring said.
The bus tour of the city, held in the afternoon of the Symposium, also impressed Soyring with the contrasting character of some streets in the Central Neighborhood.
"When we went down some of those streets without trees, it was remarkable how different they were," he noted.
Soyring said that Mock's vision for an urban sustainable forest would be a step up to a superior tree planting and maintenance program. Because this vision includes both public and private trees, he acknowledged that the issue could be a contentious one for residents. Extensive planning and input would precede any potential policy changes.
"We'll get calls from somebody saying, 'Buddy, don't tell me what to do with my trees,' to, 'I can't believe my neighbor is going to cut down that 200-year-old oak tree and I can't believe we don't have a tree protection ordinance,'" he said.