The Real Giving Tree

When I was young kid and playing in the woods I loved to be able to climb braches play in my tree fort and go for hours in the woods and enjoy all that I could as a young boy. When I grew older and started to go camping, I started to use these same trees for firewood for ghost stories by the bonfire that would bring chills down your spine. But it was not until I started studying trees in Forestry classes that I really realized that they benefit us in so many ways whether it is for social, environmental or economic reasons.
Some of the social reasoning behind the benefits of the trees around the urban landscape is the simple joy and mood it provides whether it be shaved on a hot summer day or a sense of beauty from the fall color. These are benefits that can’t be measured in the sense that money can but in a way that speaks to us as humans in our connection with nature and the bond we will forever have with it. Another social benefit of the urban forest is the community aspect of planting and caring for the trees that are a part of their community.
Some of the other realizations of the benefits of trees in the urban landscape are the environmental benefits we receive form them. They aid in providing food and shelter for wildlife. This allows the natural flow of nature to be observed in a place where people sometimes forget nature exists and it should be reminded to them. Other environmental benefits are the CO2 or carbon dioxide that is removed from the atmosphere. This cleaning of the air is getting more important every year as cities get more traffic and more cars emitting these toxic fumes in to the air we breathe, it is get more important to address this issue.
“Over the years the City has invested millions in its urban forest. Trees provide $5.60 in benefits for every dollar spent on tree planting and care.” –Million Trees NYC. This statement should be a proof that the economic reasoning is feasible and the investment should be made in cities around the country to invest in the Urban forest to show that cities can and will be able to actually profit from having trees planting in them. For the economic benefits and also be scaled down to the local homeowner who can save money by shading his house and increase the value of his house just by the simple planting of a tree.
So I say to your my fellow reader that we should encourage the planting of trees in this urban place we call cities. For it gives us so much just like the children’s book. But it gives in ways that we sometimes don’t even realize till it is gone. We need them as much as they need us to take care of them so we can both benefit and give back to one another.

References:
1. http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/tree_benefits.aspx
2. http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/html/urban_forest/urban_forest_benefits.shtml