Bloomington will inventory and plant hundreds of trees between 2023-24, it announced Aug. 31. The inventory, conducted by the Davey Resource group, will cover 5,033 of the city’s trees, designating each tree’s location, species and size, as well as newly added maintenance and planting site information.
Bloomington Parks and Recreation will plant 90 new trees in empty plots downtown and will enlarge existing tree plots from 4’x’4’ plots to 5’x5’ to provide improved growing space for the trees. The city is still selecting additional locations, but the project aims to plant between 300 to 400 trees in 2024.
According to the urban forestry group Canopy Bloomington, urban trees provide numerous benefits to Bloomington. Trees have benefits for physical and mental health, boost property values and assist in carbon sequestration.
The project also aims to reduce the number of Callery Pears, an invasive tree species. According to the news release, 65 of these invasive trees have been removed so far, and their replacements will come in 2024.
[Related: IU approves climate action plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040]
In 1984 Bloomington was the first city in Indiana to be named Tree City USA, a program started by the Arbor Day Foundation. The city has retained this designation every year to the present day. The program requires cities to have a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a forestry program with an annual budget of $2 per capita or over, and an Arbor Day observance.
The project is funded by the $800,000 2018 Bicentennial Trees and Trails Bond, which has funded the planting of 265 trees so far.
More information and a detailed map of Bloomington’s city trees can be found on the Davey Resource Group’s TreeKeeper software. To request the planting, maintenance or removal of a street tree, visit Bloomington’s website.
