On September 19th, I was invited to attend the Kane County Urban Forest Planning Session. It was hosted by the Chicago Region Tree Initiative (CRTI). CRTI covers the six counties around Cook County. The goal of CRTI is to support and host a healthier urban forest, comprised of a diversity of tree species and ages appropriately distributed across land use types in the region by 2050. It's not just about planting more trees, but also what can or is being done to maintain existing trees.

The meeting was about making a plan and setting goals for Kane County. It was a little overwhelming to say the least, as the task at hand will impact generations to come. I think the first step is to open a dialog between you and your neighbors, park board members, city officials, school boards, church leaders and business owners in your community. What is a tree worth? Are they really that important? A great place to start is the National Tree Benefit Calculator. Let's take the Ted and Marge Ranney tree behind #1 green as an example. It's a Sterling Silver Linden, about 12 inches in diameter. That tree currently provides $80 per year in benefits. If we take care of it till it gets to 17 inches, the benefits go up to $129 per year! It also takes care of 860 gallons of storm water runoff, increases our property value by $19 and reduces atmospheric carbon by 603 pounds. All of these benefits from that one tree, can you just imagine how the Oaks behind #9 green are helping us and the environment? It's almost too exciting for the beginning of October! So as the weather starts to turn and golf becomes less frequent, now would be a great time to calculate the benefits in your own backyard.