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Two action items: Letter to your representative & endorse our project. Then celebrate spring with a Tree Walk at Pond with arborist Larry Acosta.
1. Remember the Blizzard of April 1, 1997? Our trees are still suffering. We still need special pruning and help for many of the trees damaged in last year’s storm.  Please send a message to your Representative asking his or her support to for a line item in the budget which Rep. Marzilli of Arlington has proposed for one  million dollars in state funds to repair the damage to trees. Pruning dead and decaying branches save trees from dying. Trees save us all money. They save 10- 25% heating costs in the winter and up to 25% air-conditioning costs in the summer. Write Rep. Alvin Thompson, Alice Wolf, Tim Toomey
2. HOW COOL ARE TREES?: In a study funded by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, a series of flights over Huntsville, Alabama were performed in September, 1995. Using an airborne scanner, pictures were taken during the period of maximum heating (solar noon) and shortly after sundown when the heat storage is the greatest. From the pictures, it was easy to see the heating of road and parking lot surfaces, especially those using asphalt contribute most to the heating.

The average temperature at a local mall in Huntsville was 113.2F, compared with a nearby forested area which was 85.3F. A "tree island," a small area containing a couple of trees in the parking lot, was only 88.9F. So, even a small area of tree coverage surrounded by a very hot parking lot can reduce temperatures. Five hours after sunset the parking lot was 75.2 F, the tree island was 64.6F and the nearby forest was 62.8F.
 

3. We are re-applying to Urban Forestry and Education for a grant for the next fiscal
year.  Please sign the note at the end and share it with others who support trees.

4. Tree Walk this Saturday April 4.
Cambridge Tree Project, Haggerty School, Collins Library, Fresh Pond Ranger Program, Concilio Hispano, Neighborhood 10 Association, Tobin School, Cambridge Community Development, Cambridge Conservation Commission, and Department of Urban Forestry invite you to a

Tree Walk of Fresh Pond/
Strawberry Hill
Sat. April 4
Demo at 9 a.m.; Walk 10-12 a.m.
Meet at Fresh Pond Red Gatehouse on Huron Ave near Park Ave.

with Larry Acosta, Cambridge City Arborist, our Urban Forester. If you cannot make a walk in your neighborhood, you are welcome to join other walks. Walks will include neighborhood tree care demonstration at 9 a.m. and a tree identification and common problem analysis walk 10-12 a.m.

Sat. March 21  Area 4: Sennott Park on Broadway
Sat. April 4   Strawberry Hill/ Fresh Pond: Red House Huron & Park St.
Sat April 18  Agassiz: Playground on Oxford St next to School.
Sat. May 9  Central Square/ Cambridgeport : Meet at Green & River St.
Sat. May 30  East: Cambridge St.  (proposed)
Sat. June 13  North: Massachusetts Ave (proposed)
Sat. June 21  Magazine Beach along Charles River towards Weeks Bridge
Sat. Sept 19  Mid Cambridge (proposed)
Sat. Oct.3  Riverside (proposed)
Sat. Oct. 24  Porter Square and Area 9 (proposed)

Our goals are to teach you to 1.) provide basic care for trees and identify “green teams” around the city who will help care for trees; and, 2.) identify some common trees and tree problems so you can help us be the eyes and ears for our city’s trees. For information, to register for a walk, or to join a green team to care for our street trees or a tree inventory team or to help develop policies and plans to protect and maintain our trees in Cambridge, call 547-1413 or fax 876-8991 or email. Please don’t forget to give us your name, address, telephone number, email if you have it, and interests. Thanks!

5. The Cambridge Tree Project is an organization composed of citizens’ groups and individuals working together to assist the City of Cambridge in building support for the protection and management of community trees. The Cambridge Tree Project requests your endorsement of our application to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management for an “Urban Forestry and Education” grant in the amount of $10,000 with matching funds and/or in-kind services, for a period of one year, ending June,1999. We just received a grant ending June, 1998. The “Urban Forestry and Education” grant is a federally funded program whose goals are as follows:

? Promote cooperation: citizen groups and individuals, local government and professionals working together to sustain trees and forests in cities and communities.
? Involve all ages, races and cultures in urban and community forestry activities.
? Maximize the economic, environmental, social and physical health benefits or urban forests for communities and their residents.
? Increase the number of trees and forested acreage protected, established and cared for within cities and communities and their environs.
? Increase the number and diversity of community residents informed and involved in urban and community forestry endeavors.
? Establish new and strengthen existing urban and community forestry programs in municipalities and other jurisdictions.
? Promote increased self-reliance and support at all levels for urban and community forestry programs.

The Cambridge Tree Project has the following two objectives in pursuing “Urban Forestry and Education” grant funding:

1. Tree Awareness and Education The Cambridge Tree Project will involve a diverse cross-section of local residents, policy makers and educators to increase the public’s awareness of the economic, environmental, social and physical health benefits of trees in the urban environment.
2.  Develop a Local Tree Ordinance for Cambridge  The Cambridge Tree Project will work with a diverse cross-section of government representatives and local residents from all the neighborhoods to develop a local tree ordinance for Cambridge based on model ordinances from comparable communities throughout the country.

I, the undersigned,  endorse the Cambridge Tree Project’s  application for an “Urban Forestry and Education” grant.
Signature:__________________. Print Name:______________Date:__________
Print Organization:____________________   Interests:_____________________
Address:________________ ____________  City:________. State:__Zip:______
Phone:____________. Fax:______________. Email:_______________________