LYNN — The next step in the city’s ongoing efforts to improve tree canopy in its metropolitan area is the establishment of a Tree Committee.
An interest form to join the committee is now available on the Urban Forestry website for anyone who works, lives or owns property in Lynn.
Erica Holm, Urban Forestry Fellow, said responses to the interest form as well as an introductory meeting will help determine the committee’s potential goals and structure.
Possible priorities listed on the form include, but are not limited to, advising city staff on site-specific selection of tree planting locations, educating the public on the value of public trees, and preserving, protecting and promoting the urban forest.
“We’re not going to make this a question of what I want or what the DPW wants. It’s really going to be a collaborative effort,” she said.
Holm said tree committees in other communities require their members to be of a certain age group or to have certain certifications, but she doesn’t want to establish such a system until she hears feedback from the community.
She said the development of the urban forest plan will take a long time, so she wants a committee to help the planning department engage with the community and act as a partner in the process. She added that developing an effective urban forest plan will require more people than just her.
“In terms of urban forestry, if you’re planting trees in front of people’s houses who don’t want trees there, the program is not going to be a success,” Holm said. “So we really want to know how people think a tree committee should work with the city, if we do have one, and what they think about that.”
She said she hopes to schedule the first meeting for mid-September.
“I think we’re going to look for a diversity of perspectives on the Lynn Tree Committee, and we’re going to have a lot of time and a lot of discussion,” Holm added.
