Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful hosts Arbor Day activities

ALBANY — Albany got a little greener and area children learned about the importance of trees and conservation last week as Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful used Arbor Day as a call to action.

Things got started Thursday when fourth- and fifth-grade students at Albany’s Radium Springs Elementary School spent the morning learning about trees and their value to the community during a lecture from City of Albany Tree Board chairwoman Kay Kirkman.

The students carried on a KADB Arbor Day tradition, donning gloves and wielding shovels to plant a 15-gallon live oak on the school grounds, with an assist from City Arborist Ili Si Malone, who showed the students how to properly plant the tree.

Malone was also on hand for KADB’s citywide Arbor Day event just two days later, when volunteers, including city of Albany Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard and Mayor Dorothy Hubbard, planted 20 crepe myrtles along Blaylock Street near the entrance to the Eames Sports Complex Saturday morning.

Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful Executive Director Judy Bowles, who had a busy week last week with the Arbor Day activities and KADB’s annual volunteer banquet, said the Arbor Day focus was especially important this year, following the two brutal storms that ravaged large parts of the community, doling out particularly brutal damage to the city’s famed tree-canopy.

“It has always been important for Albany to enhance and protect our tree canopy as we lose trees every year to construction,” said Bowles. “But this year, we have lost thousands of trees due to storms and a tornado. The Avenues, Tift Park, Hilltop, Rawson Circle and the Radium areas have been devastated. Albany is know for our majestic live oaks, and many of them were destroyed.”

In light of that loss, Bowles used the Arbor Day activities to promote Grow Albany, a joint project between KADB, Dougherty County and the city of Albany, to raise funds to replace the canopy.

“Citizens need to join environmental hands in a joint effort to replant our tree canopy so that future generations can enjoy the beauty of a green community,” she said. “Albany is known for our majestic live oaks, and many of them were destroyed.”

Despite the impact of the storms, the Albany area still boasts an impressive number of trees and has earned national standing over the years as a Tree City USA city, as recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation. The city has been given the distinction for the past 29 years.

“Tree City USA communities see the impact an urban forest has in a community firsthand,” said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation, when notifying KADB of the honor. “Additionally, recognition brings residents together and creates a sense of community pride, whether it’s through volunteer engagement or public education.”

The Arbor Day Foundation notification said the city earned the Tree City USA honor by meeting the program’s four requirements: having a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation, which this year was read by Hubbard.

For Bowles, earning the Tree City USA designation for nearly 30 years is further proof of the importance of protecting the city’s tree canopy and helping to heal it through the Grow Albany campaign.

“It is an honor for Albany to be designated a Tree City USA city, as it undergirds our commitment to enhance and protect our tree canopy,” said Bowles. “Just as our forefathers planted trees in the avenues that they would not see mature, we need now to plant for future generations.”

To learn more about the Grow Albany campaign, which is organized out of the KADB office, visit growalbany.com online or contact KADB at (229) 430-5257.

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