Somerville's Tree City status

I'm writing to bring a bit of closure to this petition.

I submitted our names to the state official who reviews and approves applications for the "Tree City USA" and "Growth" awards from the Arbor Day foundation.  We had a respectful and positive conversation, though I'm not thrilled with the outcome.

Apparently, they have very little latitude to deny Somerville's application.  We do -technically- meet the requirements, which include spending at least $2 per resident on trees. I asked whether a city that spent that amount of money on -removing- healthy trees would qualify, and the answer was yes.  The award is structured to raise the profile of the Arbor Day Foundation, rather than to cause cities to effectively care for and expand their urban canopy.

So if Somerville applies, we'll probably get the award again, no matter how we actually treat our trees.

I also submitted the petition to Somerville's Mayor, Arborist, and the director of our office of Strategic Planning.  That got a bit more action:  The first members of our Urban Forestry Committee have been nominated, and we will soon begin our work. There are rumblings of more actions, including updated legislation, to be announced soon.

Long term, I think that this will have been an impactful petition, even though we will still probably see that useless "tree" badge on the city's website.

Thanks to everybody who supported this.