Welcome to the first edition of The Tree Amigo©. You
are receiving this e-letter because of your current or past association with or
interest in the West Texas Urban Forestry
Council. If you do not wish to continue receiving this letter, please email me and say “Unsubscribe
WTUFC”. On the other hand, if you like
the letter, please forward it to fellow professionals, friends, family and associates.
Received duplicate emails? Please let me know.
Fall is the time to
plant trees. WTUFC offers you good tree care advice
including how to
plant a tree and a tree selection guide
based on landscaping and other considerations. The El Paso Water Utilities has
a great plant list based
on the need for water conservation. You
may also want to take a tour of the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens at the UTEP
Centennial Museum. Just a visit to their
web page will give
you much information about desert gardens and desert plants as you plan your
fall gardening and landscaping.
Trees provide so
many benefits to any urban environment. Read TreePeople’s Top 22 Benefits. Not
just in spite of drought but because of drought and climate change, citizens
and cities should be building their urban canopy. Trees add moisture to the
atmosphere and reduce evaporation in the rest of the landscape. Trees help us adapt
to a warming world. Not only do trees help conserve water, but newly
planted trees only require 15 gallons or so of water each week. Strategies to
keep and utilize rainwater where it falls (your yard, business location, city
facility) are becoming better incorporated in landscaping and conservation and stormwater
planning. Take some simple steps or even bigger steps to harvest
and manage rainwater. Check out and surf
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s rainwater harvesting site. Kudos to the City of Tucson for making
rainwater harvesting a top priority.
Once planted trees
play an important role in water conservation, stormwater management and urban
cooling. By using rainwater harvesting techniques and employing low
impact development strategies, planting more trees does not put an extra
burden on cities dealing with drought and water scarcity.
So plant a tree . .
. or trees. October is National
Neighborwoods Month, a program created by
ACTrees, Alliance for Community Trees.
Watch the U.S. Forest Service video about Neighborwoods
Month. Associate Chief Mary Wagner talks about tree benefits as she encourages
personal and community planting of trees.
Finally, this coming Saturday,
October 27th, the Lost Dog Trail Head (also known as the Redd Road
Trail Head) will be dedicated. (Map) The Borderland
Mountain Bike Association and benefactors have completed improving the
trail head with gravel, parking spots and native Honey Mesquites donated by
your West Texas Urban Forestry Council from a
grant from the Koontz
Fund of the Texas Society
of Urban Foresters as part of Neighborwoods Month. WTUFC is expanding the
urban canopy in the El Paso region.
The mission of
the West Texas Urban Forestry Council is to promote the preservation, health
and expansion of community trees in the El Paso region.
Together with
the friends of WTUFC, "Los Tree Amigos", we work to promote desert
green—shade friendly and water smart.
The Tree Amigo© is
written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the
content of the letter.
Many of you belong
to groups or organizations whose members will want to read this letter. Please
forward it to others. Anyone may subscribe or unsubscribe at any time by emailing me. Your email address will
not be shared or sold.
Please visit and
bookmark www.wtufc.org.
This is Volume 1
and Number 1 published on October 22, 2012
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