Athens Community Tree Council

Hi everyone! Today is Giving Tuesday, and we would be so very grateful if you would consider us in your gifting this year. Part of what we do is plant tree groves in targeted areas in the community lacking significant tree canopy and funds for planting. We depend on outside funding for all of our Trees for Tomorrow groves! Please check out our new website (functional, but still under construction) for more information and a link to donate. Thank you! www.athenstreecouncil.com

This is the most recent version of the Athens Clarke County Tree List. This list was reviewed and edited by our Policy Committee and is intended to support the development code, site planning and design activities for tree conservation and establishment, and tree maintenance planning and decision-making in the county. It is a useful resource! Let us know what you think.

Meet our council member Nina Wurzburger. Nina is an Associate Professor in the Odum School of Ecology, where she runs a research lab and teaches courses on ecosystem ecology. Nina joined the CTC out of concern for Athens’ urban forest. She says I wanted to find a way to plant new trees in Athens and keep existing trees healthy. Trees provide numerous ecosystem services... but also I think trees are beautiful. In fact, one reason why Athens is a beautiful city is because of its urban forest. Nina has served as President of the CTC and currently works on the Trees for Tomorrow committee and works on grant proposals for funding plantings. Thank you Nina for your invaluable insight and leadership!

Members of the council, the of ACC park planning and SPLOST project managers met on Friday to coordinate tree plantings along the Firefly Trail. A beautiful day to see and plan for more progress on this exciting project!

Our beloved Tree That Owns Itself was featured on the GPB show On Second Thought the other day.

Hey Everybody! Meet our current president, Shawn Doonan! Shawn attended the University of Iowa and came to Athens in 1996. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and the owner of New Urban Forestry. Through his profession, Shawn has the opportunity to educate Athenians about tree care and he is most interested in the education and outreach mission of the CTC. Shawn’s favorite tree story is when he met his wife while installing a bird feeder in her grandmother's tree. Isn’t that the sweetest? Thanks for your service and leadership, Shawn.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDwDWxNBGpx/?igshid=7eta8csbb3lh

Sharing this, from our friends at the Georgia Native Plant Society

The Tree Council will have a table at the GreenLife Expo and awards. Come see us! We would love to share information about what we do and we'll have native tree seedlings for giveaway! Hope to see you all at this great free event on the 29th at the Georgia State Botanical Gardens from 10-2!

On Friday, February 14th community organizations gathered on a segment of the Firefly Trail to celebrate Athens Arbor Day and to plant trees that were donated by the CTC along the trail. We had blue skies for the event, which marked our 20th year of being designated a "Tree City USA" by the National Arbor Day Foundation. This was a celebration of the collaboration of community partners for the purpose of improving the quality of life for Athens' residents through the planting and maintenance of trees. The partners included ACC Unified Government, UGA, the CTC, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and Keep Athens Clarke County Beautiful. It was a great day!

The tree council is accepting applications for new members! If you are interested, please inquire via this link or through messenger. We’d love to hear from any Clarke county residents that are interested in our mission to promote the care, education regarding and expansion of Athens’ tree canopy. Must be a Clarke County county resident to apply. https://www.accgov.com/8876/Community-Tree-Council

The ACC-CTC planting event at Broad Acres last Arbor Day in collaboration with Dr. Shelley Cannady some of her UGA landscape architect students. 18 trees in the ground!

Have any of you heard of the Athens Moon Tree? This loblolly pine was planted at what used to be the Athens Clarke County Library (and is now the Athens Planning Department building) in around May of 1976. Its seed was one of 50 of a variety of species given by U.S. Forest Service to NASA that were carried to and orbited the moon on Apollo 14 in 1971! I took this picture of the tree last evening after our monthly CTC meeting and Phil Hale sent me the picture of the article today. Awesome, right?

Have y'all heard about the USDA Forest Service "i-Tree MyTree" tree benefits calculator?? With a few clicks, you can plug in your tree species information, and learn about all the carbon sequestration, air pollution removal, and home energy savings you are getting from the trees around your home! Try it out for free here: https://mytree.itreetools.org/

These photographs of Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, and Noble fir from the Pacific Northwest are just incredible!!