Trees

This information originally appeared as an article by Diane Eldridge in the Spring 2005 Upstate Advocate

      If you were asked to name the capital assets in our cities and suburbs, you might immediately list roads, water, sewer, sidewalks, public buildings and recreational facilities. These facilities are part of our community’s infrastructure, paid for with our tax dollars to serve our families and businesses. You might not think of trees when making your list, but they represent a “green infrastructure” that provides benefits and services of incalculable value.

Here in the Upstate we are blessed with good ecological conditions for growing trees, and – until recently – we have taken our ample tree canopy for granted. However, we are now losing trees at an alarming rate: 40 acres of the Upstate’s landscape is developed every single day, and in many cases land is cleared of all vegetation before construction begins.

The State Champion Bur Oak at the Clemson campus: One of the Upstate’s many natural treasures.

Only a short distance down the road you can see firsthand the consequences another area has suffered because they failed to protect their tree cover. The Atlanta region has lost massive amounts of its tree cover, and the loss continues at a rate of 50 acres per day – a major cause of an 8 to 10 degree increase in temperature in and around the city(1). Not only does the excess heat place higher demands on cooling systems in cars and buildings, it also causes changes in local weather patterns such as increasing the incidence of thunderstorms. In addition, heat accelerates the formation of ozone, a destructive type of smog that interferes with the process of photosynthesis and damages the lung tissue of humans and other animals. The hotter it is, the more ozone is formed.

Air and Water Quality

A tree is one of nature’s most efficient recycling machines. Trees convert carbon dioxide (CO2) to breathable oxygen. In the process, they sequester the carbon in their woody tissue and roots until the tree dies and slowly releases it back into the atmosphere to be reused by other organisms. In addition, trees remove pollutants like ozone and particulate matter from the air, and help cool it through transpiration and shading.

Trees also play an important role in securing and purifying water supplies for communities. By intercepting rainwater with their leaves, branches, and trunks, trees reduce stormwater runoff, thereby lessening the need for human-engineered facilities like retention ponds and drainage systems. This, in turn, keeps soil moist and groundwater replenished. In addition, trees help absorb pollutants like nitrates, phosphorus and potassium and use them as food.

Many of these environmental benefits have been quantified. One study found that Atlanta’s heavy decline in tree cover has resulted in a 33 per cent increase in stormwater runoff; retaining this increase requires stormwater facilities at a cost of approximately $1.18 billion(2). In another study, the U.S. Forest Service reports that during a 50-year lifespan, one tree will generate $30,000 in oxygen, recycle $35,000 worth of water, and clean up $60,000 worth of air pollution, which comes to a total of $125,000, not to mention its many other benefits(3).

Economic Benefits

Trees are “green” in more than one way: they provide enormous economic benefits to society. When given the choice between a home or office without trees and a similar structure with trees, many Americans are willing to pay more for the latter. One study found that for homes in Athens, Georgia, landscaping with trees was associated with a 3.5 to 4.5 per cent increase in the sales price(4). In another area, rental rates for office buildings with landscaping and trees were responsible for an increase in office rental rates of approximately 7 per cent(5).

Trees in business districts attract shoppers who will drive farther, stay longer, and visit more frequently than in treeless areas. Research suggests that “healthy and well-maintained trees send positive messages about the appeal of a district, the quality of products there, and what customer service a shopper can expect.” (6)

Policies for Protecting Trees

In response to the increasing rate of development and rapid tree loss, many South Carolina cities and counties have adopted policies to ensure adequate and healthy tree cover in their communities. According to a 2003 study conducted by the Strom Thurmond Institute, at least 81 municipalities and 22 counties have adopted at least one type of ordinance that sets minimum standards for the protection of certain trees or for the planting of new trees in commercial and residential developments or in parking lots(7).

The complete obliteration of all trees is the standard development practice in the Upstate. This type of destruction can be prevented through strong tree protection ordinances.

In general, tree regulations are adopted most often in larger and growing communities in South Carolina(8). In the Upstate, the cities of Greenville, Greer and Spartanburg have regulations that provide protection for existing trees to some degree, and – along with these three cities – at least 10 other Upstate cities have landscaping or street tree requirements. However, even though 90 per cent of the region’s development is occurring in unincorporated areas(9), no county has yet adopted comprehensive tree protection, while four have only landscaping standards for bufferyards and/or parking lots. (Anderson County encourages but does not require the retention of trees in developments.)

The best and perhaps only truly effective way to ensure adequate and healthy tree cover is by adopting countywide tree ordinances in every county. Such a policy would set minimum standards for the number of trees that are required in all developments and for the size and type of trees that must be protected outright. In addition to minimum standards, incentives could be used to encourage retention or replanting of more than what is required.

Upstate Forever is proud to have played an active role in the passage of a 2002 ordinance requiring trees in new parking lots in Greenville County. We are currently advocating for a broader tree protection ordinance there that would apply to new residential subdivisions, commercial developments, and other major projects (and not apply to individual homeowners).

Considering the Upstate’s rapidly changing landscape and rate of tree loss, the sooner our counties take action, the better for our economy, for our quality of life and for the future of our region’s “green infrastructure.”

Additional resources & information

• Tree ordinance clears County Council
  January 25, 2008
  by Charles Sowell in the Greenville Journal
• Tree ordinance took huge whack from council
  January 21, 2008
  opinion by Nancy Fitzer in the Greenville New
• Upstate Forever's revised comments on proposed
  Greenville County Tree Ordinance
  October 12, 2007
• Upstate Forever comments on proposed
  Greenville County Tree Ordinance
  July 17, 2007
  
• Upstate Forever’s Conference
  Trees: The Care and Protection of a Valuable Upstate Resource
  April 26, 2005
• Trees are the Mainstay of our Green Infrastructure,
  editorial by Upstate Forever’s Diane Eldridge, The Greenville News, May 28, 2005
• Plans for tree protection all talk, little action so far,
  The Greenville News, May 9, 2005
• Tree proposal affects property rights,
  The Greenville News, April 26, 2005
• Greenville County Council Approves Parking Lot Landscaping Ordinance With Original Standards,
  Upstate Update 37, September, 2002
• Shade Tree Mechanics: Cheers abound as council approves ordinance,
  MetroBeat, September 10, 2002
• Greenville Needs Trees to Stay Green,
  The Greenville News, June 25, 2002
• Tree Ordinance Debate Gets Hot,
  The Greenville News, June 22, 2002
• The Public Outcry for the Protection of the Clemson Forest,
  Upstate Advocate, Spring 2005

Notes:

1 NASA, http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/stories/Landsat/atlanta_heat_background.html

2 “Projected Environmental Benefits of Community Tree Planting:
A Multi-Site Model Urban Forest Project in Atlanta,” American Forests, October 2002.

3 Roloff, Glenn. Twenty-Nine Reasons for Planing Trees. USDA Forest Service – Northern Region. Treelink: The Community Forestry Resource: www.treelink.org

4 Anderson, L.M. and H.K. Cordell, “Influence of trees on residential property values in Athens, Georgia,” 1988, Landscape and Urban Planning, 15:153-164.

5 Laverne, Robert J. and Kimberly Winson-Geideman, “The influence of trees and landscaping on rental rates at office buildings,” Journal of Arboriculture 29(5); September 2003.

6 Wolf, Kathy L., “Trees in Business Districts: Positive Effects on Consumer Behavior,” 1998. Center for Urban Horticulture, University of Washington, College of Forest Resources.

7 London, Donna, Project Coordinator, “Status of Tree Ordinances in South Carolina,” 2003, Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs, Clemson University. http://www.strom.clemson.edu/primelands/trees/status.pdf

8 Ibid.

9 See Upstate Update Number 56 at http://www.upstateforever.org/UpstateUpdate56.pdf for statistics on growth in unincorporated areas.