The City of Griffin maintains over 9,000 trees and manages them through an electronic database. All city trees have been located using the latest GPS technology and identified by a certified arborist. Griffin understands the value of our urban forest as it relates to property values and aesthetics. The City of Griffin has an Environmental Council appointed by the City Commission and it meets on the second Thursday of every month at 5:30 PM on the third floor of City Hall (City Manager’s conference room). One of the Environmental Council’s functions is to make recommendations concerning tree issues and policy. The City is a Tree City and works hard to maintain a healthy tree canopy.

The Role of Trees in Stormwater Management*

In nature, trees play critical roles in controlling stormwater runoff and protecting surface waters from sediment and nutrient loading. In cities, trees can play an important role in stormwater management by reducing the amount of runoff that enters stormwater and combined sewer systems. Trees, acting as mini-reservoirs, control stormwater at the source.

A healthy urban forest can reduce runoff in the following ways:

• Transpiration - Trees draw large quantities of water from the soil for use in photosynthesis. The water is eventually released into the atmosphere as vapor from the canopy, a process termed transpiration.

• Interception - Leaves, branches, and trunk surfaces intercept and absorb rainfall, reducing the amount of water that reaches the ground, delaying the onset and reducing the volume of peak flows.

• Reduced Throughfall - Tree canopies reduce soil erosion by diminishing the volume and velocity of rainfall as it falls through the canopy, lessening the impact of raindrops on barren surfaces.

• Increased Infiltration - Root growth and decomposition increase soil infiltration capacity and rate.

• Phytoremediation - Along with water, trees take up trace amounts of harmful chemicals, including metals, organic compounds, fuels, and solvents from the soil. Inside the tree, these chemicals may be transformed into less harmful substances, used as nutrients and/or stored in roots, stems, and leaves.

*Excerpt from: "Stormwater to Trees: Engineering Urban Forests for Stormwater Management", U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (September 2013 EPA 841-B-13-001)

Tree Maintenance

The City of Griffin has a tree inventory listing all of the trees on public rights of way and each tree is plotted on GIS maps. The City periodically contracts for a new tree inventory to update the existing one. In this process, tree inventory surveyors (all of whom are certified Arborists) observe and record the condition of each tree. Many trees may be found to be in poor condition and deemed potentially hazardous due to disease, excessive lean, storm damage and other related reasons. These trees are, consequently, recommended for removal as a matter of public safety. In addition, the City urges citizens to please report any tree issue that appears to be problematic.

It is the intention of the City of Griffin to replant trees in or near the same general area from which trees have been removed. However, depending on underground utilities and other site restrictions, it is not always possible to replant trees in the same general area. Though trees may sometimes not be replanted in or near the same area, the City does have an urban forest enhancement program through which more than seventy trees (on average), of all kinds, are planted each year in various areas on public rights of way and public property. It is the City’s goal that the number of trees planted in our urban forest always far exceeds the number of trees removed.

Fall is when we choose planting sites along the street rights of way. If we are proposing to plant a tree adjacent to a homeowner’s property we will attempt to contact them either by phone or post a flyer on their door. If citizens have any comments or concerns about a tree being planted adjacent to their property, we ask them to please call the number listed on the flyer. We look forward to serving the citizens of Griffin by making all neighborhoods integral parts of the City of Griffin urban forest.

City Tree Program

The City of Griffin has been a Tree City since 1992. The Arbor Day Foundation describes the benefits of a city becoming a Tree City and regularly planting trees.

The requirements to become a Tree City include:

• A tree board or department.
• A publicly available tree ordinance.
• A community forest program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita.
• Host an Arbor Day event each year.

The City of Griffin sponsors an event every year, usually on or near the actual Georgia Arbor Day, which is the third Friday of February.

To learn more about Arbor Day, visit the Arbor Day Foundation at www.arborday.com.

Resources

• Tree Commission Report
• Trees Help Cities
• Tree Inventory Report 2018
• Tree Damage and Storms
• Griffin Environmental Council

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