(Submitted by City of Bowling Green)
The “Did You Know?” is a series of short articles meant to inform residents and visitors of Bowling Green about current topics of interest. The series will run throughout the year, with articles issued every few months.
Did you know that there are over 7,400 trees growing in the City’s right-of-way and parks? While Norway maple, crabapple, and honey locust trees are some of the more common trees, the City’s urban forest is quite diverse consisting of 150 different tree species and cultivars. The urban forest provides citizens over $630,000 annually in environmental benefits including reducing and avoiding 2.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and intercepting 7.4 million gallons of stormwater. The City’s trees have a return on investment of $2.87 in benefits for every $1 spent on their care.
Bowling Green has a history of a strong commitment to its trees. The City has been named a Tree City USA community by the Arbor Day Foundation for 37 years. Additionally, BG has received the Growth Award 22 times for enhancing its tree program which is the most in Ohio. In 2016 the City planted 337 trees – for every tree removed, two were planted in its place. Another benefit of the City’s tree program is that the crews responsible for keeping trees healthy are also clearing branches from electrical lines, greatly reducing electrical outages due to trees.
Keep up to date on the City’s tree program by visiting the City’s website – www.bgohio.org. Follow the City on Twitter or Facebook and sign up for the weekly eNewsletter, which may be found on the City’s website, to stay connected on this topic and more.
