Press Release, Branford Community Forest Commission

Branford’s Community Forest Commission (CFC) was established in 2009. The CFC collaborates with the Branford Department of Public Works (DPW) each year to compile a list of tree planting sites. DPW purchases and plants 40 to 60 trees every year and also waters them.

Anyone who would like a street tree planted in a Town right of way can request it via the Town’s website: branford-ct.gov. Native trees are planted because they support our native insects, birds and other wildlife. The new co-chairs of the CFC, Ivy Bigelow and Susan Hally, state that “We strive to ensure that all Branford residents are given the opportunity to share in the many benefits provided by trees.”

Trees are an important public health infrastructure. US Forest service scientists have shown that the more trees in a neighborhood, and the bigger the trees, the lower the mortality rates. On streets that lose tree cover, premature mortality increases. Trees markedly reduce air pollution, the silent killer. Per the World Health Organization, air pollution kills approximately 7 million people a year. Trees decrease cardiovascular risk, cognitive decline, and the incidence of metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, and diabetes; they improve pulmonary and immune function, stress recovery, and social interactions. Trees decrease the heat island effect, noise and night-time light pollution and increase the amount of exercise people undertake. Businesses with trees in front are more frequently visited. High school students who visualize trees through their classroom windows have more positive standardized test scores, higher graduation rates, and a higher percentage going to a 4-year college. (Athletic fields, lawns and parking lots are negatively related.)

Humans innate attraction to trees and nature is termed biophilia. Caring for our trees is important. Note that correct mulching can improve the health of a tree but volcano mulching [mulch piled around the base of a tree or shrub], not infrequently seen in Branford, can kill a tree from bark rot, insect/rodent infestation, and water and oxygen not getting to the roots.