Norwalk seeks neighborhood tree liaisons

Norwalk is looking for volunteer tree liaisons to oversee the growth of the woodsy greenery in most of the city's neighborhoods.

 

    Only four of the city's 18 neighborhood associations have active liaisons now.

 

    One of them, Nick Overall in the Eastern Norwalk Neighborhood Association, was recognized last May as Norwalk's first Tree Advocate of the Year.

    The others are Mike Mushak of the Golden Hill Association, Gay Macleod of the Western Norwalk Association and Diane Witkowsky of the Spring Hill/Hospital Area Neighborhood Association.

    "We can't roll back time and save the natural landscape we've already lost," Witkowsky says, "but we can plant new trees and promote reforestation."

    The tree liaisons are trained to identify the sites in their neighborhoods for improving the streetscape. They develop plans for plantings, help neighbors to select the appropriate species of trees, report illegal cutting and coordinate with the utility companies the tree trimming near power lines.

    They are given staking kits to mark planting sites and an 85-page illustrated guidebook listing 35 species of trees and 15 popular shrubs. The book is a scientific and practical how-to compendium of facts, figures and photos assembled by the City of Norwalk, the Norwalk Tree Alliance and the Norwalk Tree Advisory Committee.

    About 20,000 of the trees inside Norwalk's perimeter are on city-owned land, the remainder on private property.

    Hal Alvord, Norwalk's tree warden and public works director, says: "So effective arrangements can be made for the ongoing care of those trees, wherever possible, when trees are planted on city property with municipal funding, we encourage the liaisons to collaborate with the residents whose land adjoins the city-owned land."

    The Norwalk Tree Alliance headed by Dave Tracy and the Tree Advisory Committee headed by Don Nelson are also members of the city's active arboreal partnership. In recognition of its work to restore the urban forest, Norwalk has been designated by the U.S. Arbor Day Foundation as "Tree City USA" for the fifth consecutive year, one of 15 communities in Connecticut to achieve the designation. 

    What defines the value of Norwalk's trees?

   Trees anchor the urban ecology/landscape/environment. They enhance the social fabric of neighborhoods, beautifying the landscape with their foliage and stateliness. They increase property values and provide energy savings. They add to public revenue, attracting businesses and tourists. They cool the streets and temper the urban heat by diffusing the sun's reflection and proving shade..

They filter impurities from the air by trapping dust and converting  CO2 to oxygen. They make for more efficient stormwater management, helping to prevent soil erosion and flooding. They yield fruit and sustenance for birds and wildlife. They define property lines. They serve as fences and provide windbreaks. And they are planted as memorials and monuments. 

   Anyone interested in volunteering to become a tree liaison can obtain additional information by contacting Tree Warden Hal Alvord or Deputy Tree Warden Paul Sotnik at 203) 854-7791.

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Alliance joins movement to save Merritt Parkway trees

    The Norwalk Tree Alliance has added its support to the campaign of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy to preserve the trees bordering the parkway that are designated for destruction, supposedly for safety considerations.

     The alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting Norwalk's urban forest canopy, expressed its position in an appeal e-mal to Commissioner Joseph Marie of the Connecticut Department of Transportation and other state officials.

    Marie has taken the conservancy's concerns under advisement.

    Dave Tracy, the president of the alliance, told Marie "the irreparable cutting down of trees is removing the defining elements of the parkway."

    Tracy described the parkway as "a treasured Connecticut landscape." He suggested the transport department should work with the conservancy and professional consultants to replant the appropriate trees and shrubs to restore the parkway's unique bucolic character which he reported has already been damaged in Fairfield and Trumbull. 

    He added "further tree removal without their concurrence is unacceptable."

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Tracy re-elected president

    Dave Tracy has been re-elected to a one-year term as president of the Norwalk Tree Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to the enhancement of the city's forest canopy. Also re-elected for one year were Dan Landau, vice president, Richard Aime, secretary and Jeanne McAndrew, treasurer.

Tree plantings at Calf Pasture add to urban reforestation

 

    Norwalk has planted 16 trees on the sound side of Calf Pasture Beach Road this fall--added to 26 trees planted on the north side of the road last spring--in a campaign to restore the forest canopy that has given the city recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation as Tree City USA for five consecutive years.

    The latest fall planting adds another stand of pin oaks, red oaks and lindens that will ultimately produce a leafy canopy up to 60 feet in height on both sides of the road,  raising the number of new trees and shrubs to 335 since September of 2005.

     In most instances the new trees have been installed on city right-of-ways and municipal property such as Matthews Park. In others, under ownership agreements, the trees have been placed on private property.

    Counting the spring planting and 38 trees/shrubs donated by Pepperidge Farms to the Norwalk Land Trust and Farm Creek Preserve, the number of plantings this year alone has reached 85.

    Funding for the trees is provided by the city's tree capital planting budget and private donors like Pepperidge Farms.

    Norwalk's arboreal initiative and encouragement of the planting and care of trees—such as Arbor Day activities at Silvermine School next April 30-- has made the city one of 15 in Connecticut designated as Tree City USA.

    What defines the value of Norwalk's trees?

   Trees anchor the urban ecology/landscape/environment. They enhance the social fabric of neighborhoods, beautifying the landscape with their foliage and stateliness. They increase property values and provide energy savings. They add to public revenue, attracting businesses and tourists. They cool the streets and temper the urban heat by diffusing the sun's reflection and proving shade.

They filter impurities from the air by trapping dust and converting CO2 to oxygen. They make for more efficient stormwater management, helping to prevent soil erosion and flooding. They yield fruit and sustenance for birds and wildlife. They define property lines. They serve as fences and provide windbreaks. And they are planted as memorials and monuments. 

   Anyone interested in volunteering to become a neighborhood tree liaison in Norwalk can obtain additional information by contacting Tree Warden Hal Alvord or Deputy Tree Warden Paul Sotnik at 203) 854-7791.

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Norwalk seeking neighboorhood tree liaisons

    Norwalk is looking for volunteer tree liaisons to oversee the growth of the

 

woodsy greenery in most of the city's neighborhoods.

 

    Only four of the city's 18 neighborhood associations have active liaisons

 

now.

 

    One of them, Nick Overall in the Eastern Norwalk Neighborhood Association, was recognized last May as Norwalk's first Tree Advocate of the Year.

    The others are Mike Mushak of the Golden Hill Association, Gay Macleod of the Western Norwalk Association and Diane Witkowsky of the Spring Hill/Hospital Area Neighborhood Association.

    "We can't roll back time and save the natural landscape we've already lost," Witkowsky says, "but we can plant new trees and promote reforestation."

    The tree liaisons are trained to identify the sites in their neighborhoods for improving the streetscape. They develop plans for plantings, help neighbors to select the appropriate species of trees, report illegal cutting and coordinate with the utility companies the tree trimming near power lines.

    They are given staking kits to mark planting sites and an 85-page illustrated guidebook listing 35 species of trees and 15 popular shrubs. The book is a scientific and practical how-to compendium of facts, figures and photos assembled by the City of Norwalk, the Norwalk Tree Alliance and the Norwalk Tree Advisory Committee.

    About 20,000 of the trees inside Norwalk's perimeter are on city-owned land, the remainder on private property.

    Hal Alvord, Norwalk's tree warden and public works director, says: "So effective arrangements can be made for the ongoing care of those trees, wherever possible, when trees are planted on city property with municipal funding, we encourage the liaisons to collaborate with the residents whose land adjoins the city-owned land."

    The Norwalk Tree Alliance headed by Dave Tracy and the Tree Advisory Committee headed by Don Nelson are also members of the city's active arboreal partnership. In recognition of its work to restore the urban forest, Norwalk has been designated by the U.S. Arbor Day Foundation as "Tree City USA" for the fifth consecutive year, one of 15 communities in Connecticut to achieve the designation. 

    What defines the value of Norwalk's trees?

   Trees anchor the urban ecology/landscape/environment. They enhance the social fabric of neighborhoods, beautifying the landscape with their foliage and stateliness. They increase property values and provide energy savings. They add to public revenue, attracting businesses and tourists. They cool the streets and temper the urban heat by diffusing the sun's reflection and proving shade..

They filter impurities from the air by trapping dust and converting  CO2 to oxygen. They make for more efficient stormwater management, helping to prevent soil erosion and flooding. They yield fruit and sustenance for birds and wildlife. They define property lines. They serve as fences and provide windbreaks. And they are planted as memorials and monuments. 

   Anyone interested in volunteering to become a tree liaison can obtain additional information by contacting Tree Warden Hal Alvord or Deputy Tree Warden Paul Sotnik at 203) 854-7791.

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Pulling chestnuts out of the urban forest

     Have you sighted any American chestnut trees in the Norwalk area or other

 

parts of Connecticut?

 

    The Norwalk Tree Alliance and the Connecticut chapter of the American

 

Chestnut Foundation are looking for examples of the tree that once blanketed the

 

Eastern U.S. more profusely than other species and provided prized timber,  

 

building materials and food for people and wildlife like white-tail dear, wild turkeys

 

and bears.

 

    A fungus from Asia that infects the bark--first identified in samples from

 

the Bronx Zoo in 1904--virtually decimated the chestnut forests by the 1950s,

 

destroying what foresters estimate at between 3 million and 4 million trees.

 

    Today a European chestnut imported from Italy or Spain is commonly sold by

 

street vendors in urban America and in grocery stores across the country at

 

Christmas time.

 

    In the East only sprouts or young trees have survived, reaching up to eight feet

 

or more in height. They sometimes even flower and yield nuts. But eventually

 

they succumb to the blight and die. Because of the alkaline content of the soil,

 

there are no chestnut stands in the West.

 

    Meanwhile the American Chestnut Foundation and the Connecticut

 

Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven are committed to resuscitating

 

the American chestnut. They are actively developing blight-resistant trees by

 

back-crossing the U.S. species with disease-resistant Chinese and Japanese

 

trees.

 

    After nearly 50 years of botanical experimentation, the hybrids are close to

 

being acceptably advanced to regenerate the species and ultimately become

 

a vital American resource again. It is anticipated that some healthy

 

seedlings could be available and ready to be planted as early as this fall.

 

   At the same time in Norwalk the team of Dan Landau and Jeanne McAndrew

 

are documenting the community's Notable Trees as part of the mission the

 

Norwalk Tree Alliance to preserve the community's urban forest, an estimated

 

120,000 trees, the majority of them on private property.

 

    Could it be there are survivors somewhere in some obscure location in the

 

Norwalk area or other parts of the county?  A mature tree would be an

 

invaluable find for scientific community.

 

    Renowned for its stateliness and its place in U.S. literature, the American

 

chestnut—or Castanea dentata to give the tree its scientific name—reaches

 

80 feet in height with a three-foot-thick trunk.

 

    They are distinguishable by the leaves, up to 11 inches long and four inches

 

wide.  With its hairless twigs and widely spaced saw-teeth on the edges of the

 

leaves—hence the Latin name dentate or toothed—the American chestnut is

 

distinct from the reasonably common Chinese chestnut which has hairy twig tips

 

and thick, shiny, leathery leaves that feel fuzzy on the lower surface.       

 

     Flowering white in late June and early July, the American chestnut is a

 

prolific bearer of nuts, usually in clusters of three, in a spiny green burr. The nuts

 

develop through the late summer and the green burrs eventually turn brown and

 

then open to release the pods about the time of the first frost.

 

    The nuts are richly textured reddish-brown, sweet and delectable raw or

 

maybe even roasted on an open fire, recalling the opening line from Mel Torme's

 

"The Christmas Song."

 

     Should you sight a tree you think might be a flowering American chestnut

 

survivor, contact the Norwalk Tree Alliance at (203) 847-8182 or online at

 

www.norwaktreealliance.org.

 

    Note: The American chestnut is separate and unrelated to horse chestnuts or

 

buckeyes, usually planted as street trees. The horse chestnut nuts are

 

poisonous. The tree is identifiable by its palmate, five-part leaves growing 

 

opposite each other on twigs, compared to the American chestnut's simple

 

leaves alternate on the twig. Horse chestnuts produce upright clusters of

 

pea-like flowers. The wood is spongy and without commercial application.

 

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Norwalk-Wilton Tree Festival May 16, 2009 at Cranbury Park

The first Norwalk-Wilton Tree Festival is set for Cranbury Park May 16 (Saturday) as a collaboration of four partners in the two communities and a day of free-of-charge family fun to promote the urban forest.
The festival offers activities like a popular rope tree-climb for kids secured in harnesses and hard hats and showcases a diverse lineup of environmentally-minded exhibitors in pop-up tents and demonstrations by experts in tree care, a primer for the householder with trees on the property.
Adding the Wilton Garden Club and the Wilton Tree Committee to the sponsors this spring gives a two-community dimension to a day that has unfolded as the Norwalk Tree Festival the last two years, cosponsored by the Norwalk Tree alliance and the City of Norwalk as co-sponsors.
Dave Tracy, president of the Norwalk Tree Alliance, said: this year’s festival “will greatly expand the depth of exhibits and activities for grownups and kids alike. The association with Wilton has already added energy and new ideas to the planning and preparation. The location on the Norwalk-Wilton border is a big plus. We anticipate a major jump in attendance as the word gets out to more folks in Norwalk , Wilton and beyond.”
“The park, with its three-story, 18th century-style Gallaher Mansion, enables us to showcase the role of trees in our communities and gives us the space to accommodate the growing number of activities without overcrowding. It presents a stunning visual setting that reinforces our theme.”
“ Cranbury Park is also a special place in springtime and one of Norwalk ’s better kept secrets.”
Adds Jessica Kaplan, chairwoman of Wilton ’s tree committee and co-chairwoman of the conservation committee of the garden club: “The festival provides us with a wonderful opportunity to focus attention on our urban trees, a resource often overlooked. Wilton and Norwalk can learn so much from each other’s tree activities and enhance each community’s approach to protecting a valuable environmental asset, all while having fun and learning.”
Cranbury Park, north of the Merritt Parkway off Grumman Avenue near Route 7 covers 190 wooded acres with eight trails for hikers and bikers, a sculpture garden, a remarkable weeping beech with multiple trunks, an 18-hole Frisbee golf course and a covered pavilion where no-cost, picnic-style food and drink is to be made available, no matter the weather.
Ample parking is available on-site and door prizes are to be distributed at regular intervals over the course of the festival, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The festival falls three weeks after National Arbor Day activities April 24 at Cranbury Elementary School in Norwalk . Additional information about the festival is available by calling the City of Norwalk Customer Service Center at (203) 854-3200 or via e-mail at info@NorwalkTreeAlliance.org .

NTA Honored by Connecticut Tree Protective Association

Protecting the urban forest: The 2009 Arborist Citation awarded on January 15th by the Connecticut Tree Protective Association to the Norwalk Tree Alliance is displayed by NTA president Dave Tracy, center, flanked by Dan Landau, left, the vice president of the NTA, and Dick Aime, the secretary.

The citation goes to non-members of the CTPA for promotion of trees in Connecticut. More than 700 members of the CTPA attended the annual meeting of the association in Plantsville, CT when the award was presented. Additional information about the work of the NTA is available online at http://www.norwalktreealliance.org/.

Lighthouse Tree tops list of Norwalk Notables

A sycamore on Soundview Avenue called the Lighthouse Tree—once a beacon for sailors and the legendary site of a cache of arms for soldiers in the Revolutionary War—is among the Notable Trees being catalogued by a team from the Norwalk Tree Alliance. Dan Landau, the vice president of the alliance, and Jeanne McAndrew, the treasurer, have identified at least a dozen remarkable trees and they intend to document other extraordinary specimens as they screen Norwalk’s urban forest. Both have been volunteers with the NTA for five years and describe the appeal of the association in virtually the same terms--an affinity for the outdoors, the wonders of nature and an opportunity for give-something-back community service.

Like the historic tree at curbside on Sound Avenue, there are an estimated 20,000 trees on civic property in Norwalk and manifoldly more, perhaps as many as 100,000, on private property.
A computer-based instrument dubbed the TreeScout, under development by NTA’s president, physicist Dave Tracy, is ultimately to be used to conduct a full arboreal inventory.
In the interim, Landau and McAndrew are scouring the city for more exceptional trees, outfitted with a tape measure and an apparatus known as an inclinometer, based on tilt sensor technology that measures tree height using geometry. They have so far evaluated 70 of 90 trees nominated to the Norwalk Notable Tree Registry since 2002. On the list are 36 different species and several exceptional trees in each of the species.
What kind of trees are considered Notables? They might be uncommon because of advanced age or lofty height, resplendence and symmetry, rarity of the species, multiple trunks and unusual shape or historic heritage. Householders generally provide the leads for Landau and McAndrew. If there is a tree on your property that you feel might qualify as notable, you can reach McAndrew online at bjmca20@sbcglobal.net .

Lightning has sheared off the top of the Lighthouse Tree and today it stands diminished at 77 feet high. But it was reportedly once a towering point visible from Long Island Sound and served as a structural landmark for shipping. At night, a flagman supposedly climbed the tree and guided ships into Norwalk Harbor with a lantern.
Folklore has it that in the Revolutionary War soldiers hid their guns by burying the weapons at the base of the tree and covering the cache with a large rock that is still there today, virtually engulfed now by the growth of the trunk.

Among the other Notable Trees on the Norwalk list:

• An American beech on the grounds of the 1880 Selleck House on Berkley Street.
• A catalpa with a cantilevered limb on Perry Avenue.
• A black oak with four trunks on Highland Avenue.
• A weeping beech with multiple trunks in Cranbury Park, the site of the third annual Norwalk Tree Festival next May.
• A European beech on Bottswood Road, believed to have survived after the British burned Norwalk in 1779.

In a special category is a sourwood tree in Riverside Cemetery that qualifies as a state champion for its age and elegance, Norwalk’s only such designate. A complete listing of the specimens in the Norwalk Notable Tree Registry is available at the NTA Web site online at http://www.norwalktreealliance.org/ .

-------------------------- End of "Branching Out" Newletter Vol 1 No 1 ------------------------------