The city of Hartford loses a few hundred trees each year. But now, in a partnership with a local non-profit, the city is poised to plant 1,000 new trees this fall. The goal is to plant 20,000 trees over the next ten years. It's an ambitious program that began last year with the first 1,000 trees planted. Now, the city wants to spend $425,000 to keep things going.
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra plans to contract with the Knox Parks Foundation to plant the trees. Ryan O'Halloran works for the organization.
"There's been long-term neglect of Hartford's urban forest. So, just to think about it, during the 2011 snow storm, we lost over 3000 trees and that's not even counting the ones taken down by private contractors. Before that, we were losing about 400 trees every year. And they were mostly our largest trees -- which are the most environmentally, economically and socially beneficial."
So, O'Halloran says his organization will use the city's money to plant trees all across Hartford and try and reverse that decline. To do so, Knox will hire five unemployed Hartford residents. It's part of a workforce development program.
"We hire specifically unemployed Hartford residents, we train them in how to plant trees, and then they go out and plant trees with us."
O'Halloran says Knox will plant a diverse mix of trees that will help clean the city's air and water.
"I mean, they're like natural filters for the rest of life."
Tree planting could begin in early September.
