PRESS RELEASE June 8, 2021 CONTACT INFO. : Office of the Mayor Patricia Resende (401) 529-3207 presende@eastprovidenceri.gov
City of East Providence and EP Urban Forest to inventory thousands of trees
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – The City of East Providence and EP Urban Forest, a neighborhood group working to enhance the city's ecosystems through education, planning and community activities, are seeking volunteers to collect valuable information on street trees located in each East Providence neighborhood.
This summer, committed volunteers will count and record information on each of East Providence’s approximately 8,000 street trees.
“The City is excited to collaborate with EP Urban Forest to count these trees,” Mayor Bob DaSilva said. “It’s been 14 years since the last tree counts and it’s time to gather new data.
“City trees improve public health and make our neighborhoods cleaner, healthier, and better places to live and work,” he added. “They absorb and capture air pollutants, lower summer temperatures, intercept stormwater, and offer beauty to soften the edges of our built environment.”
East Providence received a $4,875 Urban & Community Forestry Grant from the Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management to conduct a tree inventory. The money has been used to purchase an IPad, software to log the trees, and to pay for a tree intern, who will oversee the project. The intern will collaborate with city volunteers on the project
In order to manage the city’s trees efficiently and strategically, the city will need to know some crucial information including how many trees the City has, species, location, size, and condition. A comprehensive survey is needed to help the City with the work it does each day and to plan for the future. The data collected will help provide important information on the current health of the urban forest and identify priority areas for future tree planting programs.
“The main goal of a street tree inventory is to maximize public benefits while minimizing public costs in managing street trees as a vital East Providence community resource,” Johnson & Wales University Professor Mark Hengen, an urban forest expert with EP Urban Forest said. “We can achieve great benefits and inform residents of the economic and social value of EP's urban forest and tree population.”
Volunteers do not need to be tree experts - training will be provided. Training sessions will be held on June 23, 2021, from 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. virtually and on June 26, 2021 (with a rain date of June 27, 2021) from 10 a.m. – Noon at the Weaver Library outside by the beech tree. Inventory collection will start following the training and continue through the end of August. Volunteers (as pairs or individuals) are asked to attend one virtual and one outdoor training session and will be assigned inventory maps to be completed according to volunteers’ own schedules. Volunteers are asked to commit to a minimum of 24 hours over three months.
This is a great opportunity to get hands-on, outdoor experience with tree identification.
Help us manage the trees in your own neighborhood or get to know other neighborhoods in East Providence. Be a part of this important forestry initiative! If you are interested in volunteering or want to learn more, email: cmorehouse@eastprovidenceri.gov or call 401-435-7500.
