Washington D.C.'s trees are being killed...

Parent Cafe
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<p>…slooowly</p>

<p>Has anyone ever noticed all the beautiful, mature, trees in the center of the city (around the mall and government buildings)? One of the great things about D.C. is the abundance of green spaces. Well, a good number of those trees, whose replacement would take decades, are suffering from mismanagement that will eventually kill them.</p>

<p>How? They are being girdled at their base with those heavy iron grates, that have become too small for the trees’ growing diameters. Whereas those grates were meant to be removed one ring at a time as the trees grew, they have been left intact, thus the trees are slowly being strangled.</p>

<p>If you think D.C. is hot in the summer – which it is – imagine how hot it will be when treeless!</p>

<p>So sad, because those vital creations of nature cannot simply be replaced overnight.</p>

<p>Someone needs to be alerted, but who? Doe anyone in charge care?</p>

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<p>I think people care more about fixing the Metro.</p>

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<p>I share your outrage when I see trees in our city being girdled by wire mesh set up to prevent critters from gnawing them down as sapplings but left in place for years. I may start to take wire cutters on my morning walks.</p>

<p>Better than ranting here, get a group together and contact those who can change things
[National</a> Mall & Memorial Parks - National Mall & Memorial Parks (U.S. National Park Service)](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/nama/index.htm]National”>National Mall and Memorial Parks (U.S. National Park Service)) has contact information.
Maybe you can get together a volunteer group that can pull the grates and hammer out the rings? It’s not rocket science. Hey, it could even be a stealth project, or even better a student run project - starting a new thread…</p>

<p>Hope you can do it, we love the mall too even if we only can see it once every 20 years.</p>

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<p>You want to contact the arborist in charge, whether that is a DC or a National Parks employee. A few photos and locations of the trees would be helpful.</p>

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<p>Snags are good :slight_smile:
They create habitat for wildlife.
Celebrate the ( soon to be )dead trees
[Animal</a> Inn Educational Activities…How is a dead tree good?](<a href=“http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/nr/wildlife/animalinn/goodtree.htm]Animal”>http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/nr/wildlife/animalinn/goodtree.htm)</p>

<p>but I hear ya.
Wait till falling limbs kill a congressman or two.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the responses. I’ll follow up and post any progress.</p>

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<p>leanid,
H works on The Hill. I brought your post to his attention and asked his advise.
Anything on the Capitol grounds (a good part of the surrounding area) the person in charge is the Architect of the Capitol ( aoc - dot - gov there is a place to ‘contact us’). Ultimately you want to be in contact with Theodore Bechtol, who is the Superintendent of Capitol Grounds.
The National Mall is cared for by the National Park Service. The link dragonmom shared above would be your best bet. Altering the trees in any way (to include removing the wire) wouldn’t be a good idea.
You can also contact your Congressmen and let them know your concern.
I have grown up enjoying the beauty of the Nations Capitol and will certainly do the same. Thanks for bringing this up!</p>

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<p>Also, I’d yell to one of the busy nature advocacy group in your city. Municipal governments are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars these days to plant trees. I don’t think the corporate and foundation donors would be happy hearing about neglect of new and existing trees. Can’t government do anything right?</p>

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<p>In addition to dragonmom’s site, another one that may be helpful for the National Park Service is
nps dot gov / nationalmallplan /</p>

<p>I apologize I don’t know how to create the link, but you get the idea.</p>

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<p>I see it here too. They plant healthy young trees in just a tiny opening of soil in the sidewalk. It’s no wonder they don’t thrive.</p>

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<p>As noted- trees do much to improve quality of life- they add beauty, provide homes for birds and wildlife, provide shade and act as windbreaks, and add oxygen to the atmosphere.</p>

<p>Improving permeable surfaces- and planting the right kind of tree for the site in the first place are things that we can do.</p>

<p>Sometimes- there isn’t a lot you can do for a tree that is in the wrong place for its site or which has been damaged ( it can take a long time for an established tree to die- or even to exhibit signs of stress-)</p>

<p>I haven’t been to the east coast- but CaseyTrees has been monitoring the situation in D.C.
[Casey</a> Trees](<a href=“http://www.caseytrees.org/]Casey”>http://www.caseytrees.org/)
More about trees!
[url=<a href=“http://www.treepeople.org/]treepeople[/url”>http://www.treepeople.org/]treepeople[/url</a>].</p>

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<p>Both Casey Trees and the DC Urban Forestry Administration have active programs to care for street trees in Washington, and I assume the Architect of the Capitol and the National Park Service do the same (though NPS budget constraints always pose limitations). I wouldn’t say our street trees are being systematically neglected or “mismanaged.” In any urban environment, it’s just a huge job that takes time and money (and planting the right varieties of trees). In fact, there’s a lot of citizen education and action related to preserving the urban tree canopy. (Check the Casey Trees website.) Tree grates are common sights in every city, though Casey Trees does not recommend them. I did a quick Google search because I was curious, and found tree grate guidelines on a couple of municipal urban forestry sites; they can work. In my neighborhood we have a number of new trees to replace older ones lost recently to disease, lightning strikes, and storm damage. They look great and are thriving (no grates).</p>

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<p>Wow, excellent sites!<br>
We had a wicked winter here with ‘Snowmageddon’ and ‘Snowpocalypse’. We were under several feet of snow for a long while. The Capitol is not equipped to clear that. If a tree was not so good before a storm, with the weight of the snow and ice it was really at risk after. I would imagine this has contributed in part to loss this year.</p>

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<p>Thank you for everyone’s interest in protecting the District’s trees. We share your concerns.</p>

<p>Casey Trees mission is to restore, enhance and protect the tree canopy of the Nation’s Capital. Our primary focus is to help individuals add trees and care for existing ones on private property. </p>

<p>We offer many several programs to help residents green their homes and neighborhoods including the Community Tree Planting, Tree Rebate and RiverSmart Homes programs. You can learn more about each by visiting [Casey</a> Trees](<a href=“http://www.caseytrees.org%5DCasey”>http://www.caseytrees.org),</p>

<p>The Urban Forestry Administration’s (UFA) mission is to establish a full population of street trees within the District and to assure that those street trees are maintained in a healthy and safe condition. You can request new street trees or tree servicing by calling the Citywide Comment Line at 311 or UFA directly at 202-673-6813. The UFA is under the District Department of Transportation. </p>

<p>Caring for a city’s trees is a shared responsibility. No non-profit or city agency can do it alone.</p>

<p>One easy way you can help care for the District’s trees is to water trees on and surrounding your property. Trees, especially those that have been in the ground for less than three years, need 25 gallons of water per week in the spring, summer and fall months. 25 gallons is approximately equal to 1.5 inches of rainfall.</p>

<p>Casey Trees makes watering your trees even easier. If you are a District resident, you can pick up a complimentary Ooze Tube (drip irrigation bag) from our downtown office during normal business hours. Each bag holds 25 gallons of water and slowly lets out the water through holes at the bottom of the bag. This allows you to give your trees the recommended amount of water and prevent wasteful runoff. </p>

<p>If you make the 25 to Stay Alive Pledge by committing to water trees on and surrounding your property as needed, we will mail you a complimentary rain gauge to help you monitor rainfall totals at your home. If you receive less than 1.5 inches of rain, you know you need to water your trees. You can make the pledge at [watering-pledge[/url</a>]. </p>

<p>Casey Trees also issues weekly tree watering recommendations on our website and Facebook and Twitter accounts.</p>

<p>I encourage you to explore our website - [url=<a href=“http://www.caseytrees.org%5DCasey”>http://www.caseytrees.org]Casey</a> Trees](<a href=“http://www.caseytrees.org/iwatermytrees.php]watering-pledge[/url”>http://www.caseytrees.org/iwatermytrees.php) - and learn how you can get get more involved with restoring the District’s tree canopy.</p>