BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Where would we be without trees? Trees are vital natural assets to human life. They provide us with food, oxygen and wood for construction.
They protect the environment, purifying the air by absorbing pollutants. They beautify and mitigate urban heat by providing us with shade.
For those reasons and more, the Sierra Club — among other organizations — is calling for the Bakersfield City Council to make optimal use of this fiscal year’s half a million dollar tree fund. Tree advocates want the council to give the public the chance to weigh in on a number of issues related to tree policy.
Eddy Laine, who spoke to the city council about the tree fund Wednesday afternoon, said this is a golden opportunity to refine city tree policy.
120-year-old downtown oak damaged by disease, arson taken down
“We want the community’s ideas,” he said. “This was a community effort to get the $500,000. We want them fully engaged in the process to decide how the funds are spent. And yes, the more trees we can plant, the more volunteers, of course. But we need a process, a simple process, in the next few months.”
Every year, in addition to planting trees, the city trims and removes trees. The Sierra Club would like to see a policy that spells out when and under what circumstances trees are removed.
They want the community to be able to weigh in on which wards within the city benefit from new trees, and how best to use that half a million dollars to get the most trees possible.
The city was not expected to act on the Sierra Club’s recommendations Wednesday evening.
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