SOMERS, N.Y. - Healthy trees equal healthy humans.
The Somers Land Trust celebrated trees with poetry, a proclamation, the planting of an eastern redbud, and the recitation of reasons why life on Earth may depend on them.
Councilman Bill Faulkner read a proclamation from Supervisor Rob Scorrano and the rest of the Town Board that officially declared Friday, April 25, as Arbor Day in Somers.
It pointed out that the holiday was established in 1872 in Nebraska and is now observed throughout the nation and the world.
Also attending the Bailey Park ceremony were county Legislator Vedat Gashi and a representative from Congressman Mike Lawler’s office.
The benefits of trees listed by SLT members Jan Antonucci and Bob MacGregor were numerous.
Boiled down to the essentials, they were:
Trees fight climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and storing it. This helps slow the greenhouse gas’s buildup in our atmosphere.
Big ones can trap up to 100 pounds of the stuff each year, MacGregor said, estimating that, in Somers, there are at least 250,000 trees on town-owned property alone.
They also filter dangerous air pollutants that can cause ailments such as asthma and heart disease.
Trees provide habitats for wildlife, food for people, shade in the summer, and a shield from cold winds in the winter.
They are a renewable resource giving folks paper, wood, fuel, and countless other products.
Trees contribute to stormwater control by acting as giant sponges.
It’s been shown, Antonucci said, that they improve mental health because “they reduce stress and enhance people’s moods.”
Then there’s this: They’re just plain beautiful.
If trees protect us, it’s important that we protect them, advised MacGregor, who enumerated the many ways they are under increasing attack from destructive critters such as spotted lantern flies, spongy moths, woolly adelgids, and nematodes.
SLT member Gail Simpson read “Advice From a Tree,” a poem by Ilan Shamir.
Among the pointers shared by the green sage: Think long term. Go out on a limb. Drink plenty of water. Appreciate the simple pleasures like fresh air and light.
And, most importantly, “Remember your place among all living beings.”
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