The City of Toronto wants to make itself more beautiful and neighbourhoods healthier. The City of Calgary will give away five thousand trees this year to be planted on people’s property to enhance the canopy of the city. The city of Winnipeg is progressing through consultation and planning to improve that city’s urban forest.
Over 40 years ago, the Fort Frances Jaycees created a program called the “Greening of Fort Frances” to improve the canopy and diversification of trees in our community. The need for a community tree planting program was necessitated by the loss of the towering Elm Trees that arched across First Street, Second Street and Church Street to Dutch Elm disease. The flowering crabs on Church Street in front of the courthouse, the land titles office and the former library were all part of the plan.
The merchants on Scott Street planted trees on the street and homeowners were able to pick up trees from the community and plant them on boulevards or their properties. Many of those trees have now been removed and the need to improve the diversification of trees in Fort Frances has never been more important.
The trees that were planted back then have mostly disappeared. Once again, our community must begin the restoration of our canopy in Fort Frances. The “Growing Canada’s Community Canopy” is available to Fort Frances and would go a long way to restoring Fort Frances’s trees. It is a $291 million initiative lead by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and is looking to plant 1.2 million trees across Canada by 2031. In partnership with Tree Canada, this program focuses on funding tree planting projects that improves the quality of life for local citizens and contributes to environmental and social benefits.
Planting trees across the community improves the look of our community and adds to the values of homes in neighbourhoods. Planting trees across our community mitigates the issues of global warming by shading homes in summer reducing the stress on electrical systems and air conditioning needs.
When the trees were removed on Scott Street, merchants on the north side of the street saw their electrical costs rise in summer months.
Planting trees across neighbourhoods improves the air quality in neighbourhoods and studies have shown that it reduces stress in citizens. In some cities, planting trees along streets and roadways is considered a safety factor protecting pedestrians from traffic. It also provides shade, improves air quality and reduces traffic noise.
Council should begin a new tree planting program across Fort Frances. Funding is available and restoring our tree canopy will make our community more attractive while providing long-term benefits to the health and well-being of our citizens.
