FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2015
Contact:
Darren Cotton
University District Community Development Association
d.cotton@udcda.org | 716-857-0096
ReTree the District is taking root in Buffalo’s University District
Buffalo, NY – On November 7th, hundreds of volunteers will once again descend on the Northeast corner of Buffalo to “ReTree the District” in University District. Community members, business owners, and UB faculty, staff, and students will work together to plant another 140 trees. Volunteers will arrive at Kapoor Hall on UB South Campus at 9AM and will proceed to target streets to the west and east sides of Main Street.
Started in early 2014, ReTree the District has made great strides toward its goal of planting 1,000 trees across University District. Between Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 plantings, 435 trees have been planted on the residential streets between Main Street, Bailey Avenue, and Eggert Road.
“Planting trees is a great way to get out of the house, meet your neighbors, and make a positive contribution to your community. We have block clubs getting organized, student renters working alongside longtime homeowners, and dozens of different organizations working together toward the same goal. ReTree the District has been a catalyst for positive change in the University District,” said Mickey Vertino, President of the University Heights Collaborative.
The project has already brought over 1,000 volunteers to the neighborhoods in University District, invested $67,650 in volunteer hours, raised over $20,000 to purchase trees, and has supported the development of many partnerships and collaborations within the community.
ReTree the District is also becoming known for its experimental use of ‘digital tools’ and text messaging for community mapping, volunteer recruitment, event coordination, and field-based troubleshooting. Volunteers can now receive alerts on their phone about upcoming service opportunities, register and sign a digital waiver on the day of an event, and communicate real-time with project leaders while out in the field. All of this with just a few simple text messages.
“We often think of tools as things like shovels, rakes, and brooms, but ReTree the District is helping our community redefine what a tool is. Almost everyone is walking around with a cellphone in their pocket. We wanted to figure out a way to use those cellphones as tools for community development and community organizing. With the success of ReTree the District, we’re now exploring ways in which texting can be used more generally to enhance nonprofit and community capacity,” said Darren Cotton, Director of Community Development & Planning at the University District Community Development Association.
Drawing on the benefits derived from close collaboration and data-driven decision-making, ReTree the District has also developed a pilot tree stewardship program to increase survivorship rates of the newly planted trees. The City Parks Department hopes to roll out a city-wide tree stewardship program in the coming year.
The impetus for ReTree the District came from a number of contributing factors that go back decades. Once known as “The City of Trees,” the City of Buffalo has experienced significant urban tree loss since the 1970s when Dutch Elm Disease began devastating the urban forest. Subsequent events, such as the 2006 “October Surprise,” contributed to further losses.
Western New York has actively responded to these losses with the activities of ReTree WNY, community associations, and neighborhood groups. By continuing to strengthen healthy urban tree canopies throughout WNY, communities are once again starting to experience the extensive benefits they can contribute such as safer pedestrian and bicycling environments, increased property values, improved air quality, reductions in crime, and stormwater runoff mitigation.
More than just planting trees however, the project also has a variety of community-based goals that are intended to combat the negative effects of neighbor anonymity and media stereotypes, bring a large number of volunteers to the district, encourage a greater level of neighborhood connection and interaction, and beautify Buffalo’s University District.
“For each of the three phases of ReTree the UB Academies have trained some 20 student Team Leaders and deployed some 100 student volunteers on the planting day. The University District is our urban neighborhood, and we try to work and live in it responsibly as an expression of an informed, life-long, citizenship,” said Professor Barbara Bono, Academic Director of UB’s Civic Engagement Academy.
Project sponsors include the Buffalo Green Fund, Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, University at Buffalo, UB Academies, University District Community Development Association, University District Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt, and the University Heights Collaborative. Additional support has been provided by Akron Tree Farms, Bailey Avenue Business Association, B Team Buffalo, Buffalo CarShare, Chestnut Ridge Nursery, City of Buffalo Division of Parks and Recreation, Dunkin’ Donuts, Grow716, Home Depot, ReTree WNY, Schichtel’s Nursery, St. Joseph University Parish, University District Block Club Coalition, and the University Heights Tool Library
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For more information and to learn how to get involved visit www.ourheights.org/retree