The Villager Newspaper Online Your Community News – Cleveland's Westshore
The Bay Village Tree Conservancy
On Aug 6 2024, a pair of EF-1 tornadoes swept across Bay Village, damaging or destroying more than 70 large trees near West Oakland Drive. Within minutes tree-shaded yards and streets were stripped of the protection that the mature canopy trees had provided for decades.
But the loss of trees in Bay Village was more than a one-time incident. It was a dramatic demonstration of a trend that has been felt in Bay Village, throughout Cuyahoga County, and in many urban communities across the country.
Bay Village Urban Forestry Manager Dave Robinson estimates that the city has lost nine percent of its tree canopy in the past decade. County officials report that Cuyahoga County’s tree cover decreased 6 percent from 2014 – 2019 and the City of Cleveland’s tree cover decreased by 5 percent.
Tree canopies in urban and suburban areas are declining due to tree diseases like Dutch Elm Disease, the emerald ash borer, and oak wilt; storms; construction of new developments; and the removal of mature trees without replacement by property owners.
The loss of tree canopy coverage affects more than just neighborhood aesthetics. Tree canopies provide significant economic, environmental, and quality-of-life benefits to communities.
More than a few scattered trees, a tree canopy is an umbrella of branches and leaves that shade the ground. While individual trees provide significant benefits, groups of mature trees can create a canopy that multiplies those benefits.
Healthy canopies cool the ground, the air, the houses, and the people who venture beneath them. Temperatures within the shade of a tree canopy might be as much as 7 degrees cooler than the temperature in unshaded areas.
Tree canopies also absorb rainwater, clean the air, produce oxygen, store carbon dioxide, and provide habitat for insects, birds, and small animals.
For homeowners, healthy tree canopies can increase property values, lower air conditioning costs, reduce flooding, and buffer the sound of your neighbor’s leaf blower.
To preserve or rebuild tree canopies, many organizations have started programs to plant canopy trees, including the Arbor Day Foundation, Holden Arboretum, Cuyahoga County, and the City of Bay Village.
In Bay, the city’s Forestry Division has started a tree planting program that officials hope will add 3,000 new trees to the city’s canopy.
In addition to city efforts, the citizen-led Bay Village Tree Conservancy supports and encourages community-wide efforts to sustain and restore Bay’s beneficial tree canopy, and educates residents on planting, preserving, and caring for trees.
For more information on the Tree Conservancy, go to: https://www.bvtrees.org/
