Category Archives: trees

Sierra Club Calls For Ending The MPC And Awards Neighbor For Activism

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This past week, the Sierra Club Falls of the James, the area’s oldest environmental organization, sent an open letter to City government concerning the deliberate cutting of trees in Monroe Park and the appearance of impropriety. In the letter, the Sierra Club suggested, among other actions, that the City’s lease with the Monroe Park Conservancy be terminated. The Shockoe Examiner posted the entire letter, minus some of the maps and photos. It is noteworthy that so far there has not been more media coverage of this detailed call for accountability and transparency from the new Mayoral administration.

Furthermore, today the Sierra Club Falls of the James announced that Oregon Hill neighbor Todd Woodson would be one of the recipients of the prestigious Green Giant awards. The award is being given in recognition of Woodson’s previous and current advocacy for Monroe Park and urban trees (including his previous service on City Council’s Monroe Parks Advisory Commission), as well as his promotion of animal welfare with the Richmond Animal Advocacy Alliance.

In the announcement, the SCOFOJ stated that City Parks worker Wyndham Price would also be receiving a Green Giant award posthumously. Price was an ardent environmentalist who helped with a variety of projects within and outside the park system. He was a familiar face around Oregon Hill and he will be missed.

The next SCFOJ monthly membership meeting, to be held Tuesday, February 14th (yes, Valentine’s Day) at 7 pm at the Science Museum of Virginia, will include a brief award ceremony for our Green Giants. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Support The Recounts – for Monroe Park and National Election

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The Sierra Club Falls of the James has joined some Oregon Hill and Fan neighbors in calling for a community review and ‘recount’ of the trees that have been removed recently from Monroe Park.

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As one neighbor, Turk Sties, put it,
The conservancy should be following the approved master plan. The master plan was clear on what trees would not be removed. I don't know if the removed trees were to stay per the master plan. But the plan should be followed.

Funding was obtained to effect the master plan. How can it be spent for anything else, especially for removing trees the master plan deemed integral to the rejuvenated park?

The tree work should be investigated by the city auditor to determine whether or not the conservancy has removed any trees that were to remain. If the conservancy has caused the removal of "spared" trees, the conservancy board members should be removed for cause and replaced with other people who can follow instructions. If that is not possible, it is time to require the addition of three "at-large" board members who can represent the citizens' interest.
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On the national front, the courageous Jill Stein continues to push forward for recounts of Presidential ballots in key swing states, despite setbacks. Using fundraised money, the state recount efforts have not found evidence of foreign actors, but have found many systematic problems. Perhaps the most troubling of these is a preponderance of undercounting in predominantly black Michigan districts.

At the same time, Clinton emerged to condemn ‘fake news sites’, while some established newspapers have published unverified, anonymous CIA leaks that claim Russian intervention in the election. Regardless of veracity, foreign agents installing a right-wing leader? You can almost hear other countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Iran singing in their best Bob Dylan (and for the record, I am not a big fan) voice, “How does it feeeeeel?” As Glenn Greenwald of the Intercept put it, it’s also “a good indication of how confused and lost U.S. political culture has become in the wake of Trump’s victory.”

How will this all be sorted out going forward? Not sure, but in my book, trees and votes do matter and deserve more attention.

North Bank/Oregon Hill Plant List

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Sample of a plant inventory:

Here is a list of all the plants I observed on our walk to North Bank (Oregon Hill end), broken up into sections.

Section 1: This section received a lot of south facing sun, had little to no canopy, was heavily disturbed, compacted poor soil, lots of foot and bicycle traffic, and subject to a lot of urban runoff and pollution.

Paper mulberry
privet (everywhere)
hackberry
Johnson grass
blackberry
honeysuckle (abundant)
pokeweed
lespidizia?
mimosa (abundant)
tree of heaven
black cherry tree
sweet gum
black locust
eastern red cedar
sweet potato vine
greenbiar
Virginia creeper
ragwort
dock
hops vine
daisy fleabane
morning glory
trumpet creeper
kudzu (abundant)
osage orange
bradford pear
sycamore
white pine?

Tree Stewards- “Community Roots – Let’s Plant Some Trees!”

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From the Richmond Tree Stewards:
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Does your yard have an empty space begging for a tree? Does you local park need some shade? Richmond Tree Stewards can help you fill that space. Our Community Roots event will offer trees free to homeowners and to community organizations (friends of parks groups, schools, etc) wishing to plant trees in the City of Richmond. The trees will be available for planting in November, the best tree planting month of the year.

The Richmond Tree Stewards, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and improving the health of the city’s urban forest, is sponsoring this event.
The program, in its second year, is an effort to improve Richmond’s tree canopy (which currently stands at only 40%) by encouraging and assisting community groups and homeowners to plant and care for trees. Thanks to a grant from the Overton and Katherine Dennis Foundation, 75-80 trees will be purchased for distribution as part of this event.

Trees are beautiful. They clean the air, produce oxygen, cool the environment, improve water quality and provide food and shelter for beneficial animals and insects. If you want to make a difference in your community, there is no better way than by planting a tree!

Applications (for both home owners and community groups) must be received by September 20th!

Richmond Tree Stewards: Will you help water new street trees?

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Richmond Tree Stewards are asking residents to help:

The forecast for the coming week is HOT and most parts of Richmond have not received an inch of rain in the last week and so…

Trees planted this year and last need help from the people who live or work near them.

A few minutes of your time and 15 – 20 gallons of water is all that’s needed to help these new trees thrive. Watering once a week would be best now; every two weeks is OK.

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If you don’t have a watering bag, a slow trickle from the garden hose works well.

Let it run long enough to deliver at least 15 gallons.