Once upon a time, trees were taken for granted – ripped from the earth to serve people, to ensure the very survival of mankind. Trees were chopped down to warm bodies, provide shelter, build railroads, and hold goods. They were used to make forms of transportation, everything from railroad cars to boats and wagons and even early automobiles. Trees became furniture. They became the vessel to cradle our deceased remains, slowly rotting into the ground with us.
In every aspect of what we might deem civilized living, trees have played a critical part. But we, the masters of ill fate on all forms of living creations, have not always been good stewards to the trees.
In the late 1850s, one J. Sterling Morton moved to Nebraska City, Nebraska with his wife. There the couple began planting trees, shrubs, and flowers while encouraging their neighbors to do the same. Many of the pioneering families were immigrants who missed their homelands, their forests, the trees. Many people in that part of Nebraska began planting trees to provide a windbreak that aided in keeping fertile soils in place and could be harvested for building materials, as well as offering much needed shade from the blistering summer sun.
As a newspaperman, Morton had a platform to spread his message about the importance of planting and maintaining trees. Fast forwarding to 1989, Arbor Day was adopted by all 50 of the United States in America and is now celebrated primarily in April. In states with warmer climates, Arbor Day may be celebrated as early as February to take advantage of the best planting season.
It was the confluence of Morton’s passionate pleading for tree planting and the realization that trees were being brutally taken from the Northeast and Northwest without a thought towards conservation or mitigation that finally brought about legislation for the protection and regulation of this great natural resource – our trees.
Returning to the 21st century, in our little patch, Mattapoisett holds the honorary title of Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Association. We enjoy long stretches of rural roadways, some of which are designed as “scenic roadways” by the Commonwealth because of the vast luscious canopy the trees provide.
None of that comes without effort and the work of volunteers.
Mattapoisett has a very active municipal Tree Committee that works in concert with the Tree Warden, Roland Cote.
Tree Committee Chairman Sandy Hering said on Arbor Day 2018 that was celebrated on Friday, April 27 at Town Hall, “We are beginning our eleventh year as a Tree City and this is our tenth anniversary.”
As Hering, along with Cote and committee member Jodi Bauer, flew the Arbor Day Flag above Town Hall, she explained that the group would be conducting a major tree planting in the fall.
After the devastating winter storms whose winds savaged hundreds of trees in town, Hering said they would be selectively planting in the easements along roadways.
“Citizens interested in having a tree planted along the edge of their property can contact us, and we’ll evaluate the site for planting potential,” she said.
Recently, Town Administrator Michael Gagne reminded the residents to check in with Town Hall before removing any trees or conducting any pruning activity on trees along an easement to ensure they don’t run afoul of the local shade tree bylaw.
If you would like more information on the history of Arbor Day, you may visit www.arborday.org. If you want to contact the Tree Committee or are interested in having your property evaluated for municipal tree planting, you may email matttreecom@gmail.com. If you need to contact Tree Warden Roland Cote, call the Selectmen’s office at 508-758-4100 ext. 4.
By Marilou Newell