by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
Riverside and Avondale are historical districts loaded with historical homes and landscaping. Much of that landscaping consists of decades-old trees, many of which may be on the verge of expiring.
Doug Coleman, reforestation chair of Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP) and longtime Riverside resident and advocate, says that’s exactly why he will be working with RAP and the non-profit Greenscape of Jacksonville over the next year to encourage the City to begin a reforestation of those communities. The project will help replace old trees in Riverside that have reached their maturity or have become damaged.
“Trees are great for many different reasons,” said Coleman, “but people rarely think about the fact that trees are rapidly declining. We want to try and do something about this decline and keep them around so that future generations can benefit from them like we have.”
At the same time Coleman said there’s an effort to secure funds for a “tree inventory” that would further assist the reforestation.
Don Robertson, who was successful in securing an initial grant for a similar inventory in Springfield, will be requesting dollars from the Division of Forestry Emergency Hurricane Grant Program. Robertson said the inventory will definitely help when the time comes to start the reforestation.
The goal of the tree inventory is to serve as a model for “Right Tree, Right Place” practices throughout different communities and to help them take actions to be better prepared for tropical storms and hurricanes. Through the tree inventory program, over-mature and unhealthy trees will be removed and replaced with appropriate trees. This will increase public safety and produce better utility service by preventing outages from fallen tree limbs. A seven-block stretch of Herschel Street will serve as the area for inventory.
Additional funding is being provided by the City of Jacksonville and support services will come from JEA.
RAP’s reforestation goals are not just to improve the communities visually but have been around for a while, said Coleman.
The idea for the reforestation surfaced over a year ago when Coleman and other RAP members read a study on the area forest done by American Forest.org.
According to the study, the number of trees in Jacksonville has declined 12.4 percent between 1992 and 2002 alone. Those forests have been replaced by urban sprawl.
One of the areas where this has been most detrimental is Riverside and Avondale – areas which are both noted for having a hearty central tree canopy.
Coleman said after World War II, Riverside and Avondale were both the sites of major tree-planting efforts and the majority of the ones that were planted were Laurel and Water Oaks – ones that typically have a life span of about 60-70 years.
“The problem is that if you do the math,” said Coleman, “it’s 2006 and it’s been roughly 60 years and those trees are going to die within the next decade. It means that we are going to lose an enormous amount of our tree canopy within the next 10 years.”
Coleman added that most oak trees don’t even live that long because of pollution and construction. However, some species of oaks have the potential to live a long time. One Live Oak called the Angel Oak, however, is estimated to be about 1,500 years old.
“In contrast to the Live Oak, the Water and Laurel Oak are much less hearty and susceptible to disease and infestation and rot,” said Coleman, “and most mature oaks have rot that is not visible from the outside and this makes the tree very unstable.”
The task of reforestation would be executed by the City of Jacksonville using funds from the Tree Mitigation Fund. Reforestation will happen more fluidly if proper scientific data has been collected on what is in existence already.
Anna Dooley, executive director for the non-profit Greenscape of Jacksonville said there are some trees that have been damaged by storms and have been pruned in a way that has compromised their stability.
The inventory documents exact location, type, size and condition of every tree in that area. It (the tree inventory) is also a great way for the City to determine the dollar value of the trees to predict maintenance costs. In case of a hurricane or other natural disaster, creating a tree inventory will make it easier to calculate the replacement costs.
Dooley and Coleman agree that the survey in Riverside arms the City with great information to go forward and devise an official planting plan.
“This is a worry that every neighborhood should have. Our little neighborhood is simply doing what every neighborhood should be doing,” said Coleman.