Trees offer many values to society, both financially and psychologically, said David Rauk of the Moscow Tree Commission while addressing citizens April 26 for Arbor Day.
Liam Donohoe | Argonaut
Moscow residents alongside Mayor Nancy Chaney and members of the Moscow City Council plant a tree Friday in Friendship Square in commemoration of Arbor Day.
This year was the 20th year Moscow celebrated Arbor Day, and the city and Chamber of Commerce teamed up to have speakers talk about the economic benefits trees have for society.
Jim Fazio, University of Idaho professor emeritus of the College of Natural Resources, said trees are able to benefit people socially and with public health, simply by providing shade and protection from the sun.
On top of protecting people from the sun, trees help patients in the hospital.
He said patients who have views of trees and landscape spend 80 percent fewer days in the hospital, and use less pain medications because they are more relaxed.
Relaxing effects of trees also work for people who are driving. He said having trees line sides of streets and in center dividers calm people down.
“Trees have a relaxing effect on commuters,” Fazio said. “And I’m not making this stuff up, it’s all in scientific literature.”
Fazio also said when housing projects have trees and other landscaping there tends to be less domestic violence and fewer criminals.
“This isn’t because trees exude some chemical, though it would be great if they did,” he said. “They instead encourage outdoor play, bicycling and walking.”
Gina Taruscio, executive director of Moscow Chamber of Commerce, said trees make people pause and talk to each other.
Fazio said trees could also lower energy costs, reducing bills by 30 to 50 percent, increase resale value of property and attract tourists.
“Quantifying the benefits of trees, this one is worth $2,593,” he said, pointing to a tree in Friendship Square. “Multiply that by 5,000 trees, that’s pretty significant.”
Trees will help to expand the perceived downtown area as well, which will help with the economy of Moscow businesses, Mayor Nancy Chaney said.
The city will place more trees, benches and other items throughout different parts of downtown to make those areas friendlier, she said.
Increasing the amount of trees in the city is not new for Moscow.
For the past 20 years Moscow has received a Tree City USA Award, said David Stephenson, the manager of Idaho Department of Lands.
He said some of the qualifications to be a Tree City is to spend $2 for every citizen of the city on trees along with claiming and celebrating Arbor Day.
“But Moscow is not satisfied with just that,” he said.
For 15 out of the last 20 years Moscow has also received the Tree City USA Gold Award for going beyond the basics by creating education programs for staff, developing a booklet of the street trees in Moscow and by doing many other tree related tasks.
Chaney said having trees in the city not only benefits the city economically, but also improves air quality, energy conservation and public health.
Fazio said the first Arbor Day was in 1872 and more than 1 million trees were planted that day, and now it has spread across the country and the world.
“One of the things I think is kind of interesting about Arbor Day, when you think about holidays in general, they tend to memorialize things that happen in the past,” Stephenson said. “Arbor day is unique in that it celebrates the future.”
To help celebrate the future, ambassadors from the Chamber of Commerce, Moscow High School students and members of the city helped to plant a tree across from Friendship Square.
Rauk said they were also giving away tree seedlings for people to take home and plant. Each of the trees also had a paper with information on how to care for them.
Allison Griffith can be reached at [email protected]