UGA to receive $1 million in new greenery
Sep 3, 2009 by Dallas Duncan, The Red & Black
The Arch located on the University of Georgia campus
A shady, million-dollar deal is about to go down on campus.
Beginning next week, Select Trees Group, a company based out of Oconee and Oglethorpe counties, is donating sustainable shade trees to the University.
About $100,000 worth of trees will be donated each year over the next five to 10 years. This is the first major contribution from the company through its Select Sustainable Trees Trust.
“Sustainable trees are ones that are healthy, environmentally sound and indigenous to the region,” Richard Hudson, a public service associate in the agricultural leadership, education and communication department said in an interview Monday.
“They’re going to put up the kind of trees that will last 100 years,” he said.
The tree species to be planted at the University, including the Stalagmite Overcup Oak, are own-root clones created from sustainable tree stem-cuttings by Select Trees, he said.
The overcup oak planted next to Memorial Hall at the corner of Sanford Drive and Hooper Street, is the “epitome of what we’re trying to do,” Hudson said.
The Trust, according to an Aug. 11 letter to Hudson, is a charitable organization that receives tree donations from Select Trees Group and further donates and discounts trees and services to qualified organizations and people in need.
Dexter Adams, director of the grounds department at the Physical Plant, said the only cost to the University will be contracting out tree-spades, the machinery that will harvest and re-plant the trees.
Although the Physical Plant is opening bids for contractors this week, Adams said he estimated the cost would range between $800 and $900 per tree. The money will be coming out of the Physical Plant’s budget.
He said the funds would not come out of student fees.
“[The tree-spade] will pull out a perfect cone of dirt that’s 80 inches across at the top, and probably about 4 feet deep,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. Once the hole on campus is dug, the tree spade will be taken to a Select Trees nursery and dig the root system and the tree to be planted, and then transport them back to the University.
Adams said a decision has not been made about what to do with the removed soil. Possible solutions, he said, include taking the soil to the nursery to fill in the hole from the tree, or taking it to a location on campus.
Hudson said planting will run from September to February each year.
A letter Select Trees Group sent to Hudson said one large tree can provide more than $162,250 in environmental benefits during a 50-year period.
The key, however, is making sure the trees are properly cared for so they may live and continue to grow.
Adams said the trees would provide visual benefits and temperature control for surrounding buildings and sidewalks.
“Drought has done a number on the arboretum,” Adams said, adding the trees donated by Select Trees will be an effort to assist with the “ongoing reforestation of campus.”
According to a press kit from the Select Sustainable Tree Trust, 200 to 400 trees will be planted annually through the 2018 to 2019 growing season. Their initial donation commitment is 3,000 trees.
Adams said the first 10 trees will be planted on North Campus, but several variables are in place to determine future locations.
The variables include aesthetics and locations of dying trees, which the shade trees can be planted to replace. According to the press kit, the average lifespan of an urban street tree is seven years. Sustainable trees, like those being planted at the University, are estimated to last between 50 and 150 years.
“Now I’m not saying we’re going to plant here,” Adams said, “but some new developments like the Greek Park, for instance, which is pretty stark, would be softened tremendously if you could get trees out there.”
In a July 14 press release, University President Michael Adams said “large, healthy trees indicate institutional permanence and heritage.”
“We appreciate the willingness of the Select Sustainable Tree Trust to offer such a generous donation,” he said.
“We have a lot to give back to UGA,” said Matt Nielson, vice president of Select Trees, in a telephone interview Wednesday. “We want to capitalize on the opportunity to give with sustainable shade trees.”
Tagged: uga, university of georgia, campus tree canopy, sustainable trees, sstt, select sustainable tree trust, campus trees