Commission to review approved tree list; plans Arbor Day planting and tree-inventory work

The Athens Shade Tree Commission said it will revisit the city’s approved tree list to remove or reconsider nonnative species and to add species better suited for changing climate conditions while continuing outreach and volunteer inventory work.

At the meeting a commissioner said the existing approved tree list is "pretty old," contains nonnative ornamentals and omits some native species. The commissioner said the list governs what trees may be planted in city rights-of-way and that the commission’s role is to advise on siting and species selection "so the city then has to maintain them." Another commissioner noted that some recommended plants being used in a community rain-garden project are not native and asked whether the list should be edited.

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