Spare That Tree
Is Protection Coming?

Members of the Community Tree Council - a volunteer county advisory board - have been meeting with a representative of the Homebuilders' Association at the request of the mayor and at least one commissioner, to propose a more stringent tree ordinance. Forester Bob Barker of the Community Tree Council calculates - based on satellite and aerial photos - that Clarke County has lost some 1,400 acres of tree cover in the past three years. That rate of tree loss is almost twice as fast as the previous 20-year period.
But despite a history of civic interest in trees, tree protection regulations have been controversial in Athens. UGA planted trees on campus in the 1800s, and The Ladies Garden Club of Athens, established in 1891, was the first in America, according to local tree historian Mary Anne Hodgson.
Soon after 1900, trees were planted at the Normal (now the Navy) School, and along Prince and Milledge Avenues by residents. South Campus was landscaped in 1908. Prince Avenue residents planted dogwoods along that street around 1949, and the city government planted street trees downtown in 1975.
Athens has had a citizen tree commission since 1980, promoting tree planting and education. In 1990, amid the controversy over unifying city and county governments, a detailed tree ordinance drawn up by the Athens Tree Commission was rejected out of hand by the city council. That decision so embittered some members of the Tree Commission that even today they will not discuss it. Athens' first legal requirements for trees on private property went in force with the new land-use plan in 2000.
That plan requires trees to be retained or planted in new commercial and apartment developments (but not single-family homes). It also requires trees to be included in new parking lots - one for every seven parking spaces. In many cases, developers have not kept the existing trees, but have met the county requirement by planting young trees instead.
Tree Council members say the greatest tree losses have occurred during mass clearing for homes on small lots, and one of the aims of a proposed ordinance will be to reduce mass clearing and grading. Council members hope to send a proposal to the planning department next month; it could then go to the ACC mayor and commission.
Rick Cowick of the planning department told Flagpole the current tree requirements are generally being implemented, but says his department does not do follow-up inspections to ensure that newly planted trees will live. Long-term enforcement of landscaping requirements is "complaint-driven," he said.
A number of Georgia cities and counties have ordinances that protect trees. Typical ordinances require trees to be either retained or planted in new developments, as the Athens ordinance does. Some require at least a portion of the existing trees to be saved, or encourage it through bonuses. (Athens' ordinance does neither.). In Snellville, for example, no clear cutting is allowed. Fulton County allows removal of trees only in the immediate area where a building (or parking lot) is to be built. Often ordinances require trees to be protected during construction by fencing, since tree roots grow near the surface and can be damaged by grading or even by covering with excess dirt. Some ordinances require donations to "tree banks" if trees are removed, to encourage the planting of trees elsewhere.
Clarke County ordinances require trees to be saved "where feasible," and state erosion laws require building with the existing land contours, but enforcement personnel tend to regard these provisions as too vague and have not consistently enforced them.

John Huie

John Huie serves on ACC's Community Tree Council.

DC March
For Women's Lives

My friends and I have many complaints about the current administration in Washington. Some of us point to ideological reasons for our frustration, while others describe personal or familial hardships brought on by policy enacted in the past four years. One of my closest friends described the entire situation best in just one word: backtracking. In her eyes, and in the eyes of many of us, the President is teaching the nation to roller blade backwards, then telling us we're moving forward at unprecedented rates. When it comes to social policy, it seems each day brings word of a policymaker seeking covertly to take back a right or to challenge our embrace of diversity.
I added another tick mark to my tally when I heard that Roe v. Wade may be in danger of being overturned. Sure, this situation isn't new: according to naral.org, the landmark decision that gave abortion rights to the nation's women has been dangling precariously, hovering over a 5-4 vote, for years. But the current administration's decidedly pro-life viewpoint ensures that now, perhaps more than ever, this decision is in jeopardy. Any vacant Supreme Court seat will certainly be filled with a pro-life judge who will presumably carry little sympathy for pro-choice Americans. And even if Roe v. Wade isn't overturned, naral.org points out that cut funding to family planning organizations and the dominance of abstinence-only sex education programs ensure that the demand for abortion will only increase as citizens - especially young people - are denied contraception and complete sex education.
Last December, Dessa Cosma, who was painfully aware of these political developments, decided to do something. She'd heard about the March for Women's Lives, to be held in Washington, DC, on April 25. Supposedly, this would be the biggest pro-choice gathering in history, with more than a million people assembled to rally for reproductive freedom.
So she took action, sending an email to the women's studies department and other organizations on campus advertising a meeting at Tate for anyone interested in attending the march. In mid-January, she secured an internship with the Atlanta branch of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), which offered her funding and supplies to get people to the march. With Rebecca Pioreck, the UGA intern for Planned Parenthood, she launched UGA Choices, a student organization devoted to getting Athens-area supporters to Washington in April.
At least one $75 bus option is available; this all-inclusive fee will cover transport to Washington, all meals, lodging and grassroots training over the weekend. Scholarships are offered to those who can't afford the trip, and the money raised from cookie and doughnut sales, a flea market sale and concerts should help fund the trip for any interested person in the Athens area with demonstrated financial need. Questions should be directed to Dessa Cosma at dessac@uga.edu or to Rebecca Pioreck at rpioreck@uga.edu.
"The timing of this march is not accidental," Cosma explains. "Women's reproductive rights are being taken in every state. This march is intended to get us all together, get us inspired to help keep our reproductive freedom." However you feel about abortion issues, these are moving words, and this mobilization of Athens residents to enact social change is inspiring in a country that often offers statistics of low voter turnout and constituent apathy. Pro-life or pro-choice, we should all be able to appreciate the contributions of Americans who choose to work to make a difference.

Betsy Beasley

Betsy Beasley is a student and a freelance writer.