Glen Rock February 1, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Environmentalists want school field trees spared by John Koster The Glen Rock Shade Tree Advisory Group, which is substantially endorsed by the Glen Rock Environmental Commission, has urged the Glen Rock Board of Education to spare the seven mature trees at the sports field during the proposed drainage reconstruction project. That project will be presented to the Glen Rock Planning Board on Feb. 2 starting at 7:30 p.m. The Glen Rock Environmental Commission also independently urged that natural methods, including plantings other than grass turf, be used to improve the drainage at the sports field. The board of education and school administration were asked to respond to the concerns the two environmental groups had about tree-cutting, increased asphalt, and other changes, but at press time had not done so. The proposed removal of the seven mature trees has prompted concern because of the many benefits trees provide to the environment, according to Shade Tree Review Commission Chair Leslie Kameny. “The fields are being refurbished due to field flooding,” Kameny said in a letter sent to the Glen Rock Board of Education. “Each four-inch diameter pin oak tree at that location currently consumes 30,000 to 40,000 gallons of water annually. Removal of seven mature oak trees will cause the stormwater runoff load to increase by 210,000 to 280,000 gallons per year. “Trees and vegetation provide many benefits at little or no cost, such as recharging the ground water, cooling the athletic fields, cleansing pollutants from the air, capturing greenhouse gases which contribute to global warning, providing habitat for wildlife, providing oxygen, buffering neighbors from the noise of athletic events, and providing a privacy screen,” Kameny said. “All these benefits will be lost with the removal of trees and vegetation.” The Glen Rock Environmental Commission, in a separate letter on the same topic and with similar concerns, urged the board of education to preserve as many trees as possible. Cindy Mehallow, chair of the GREC, wrote, “We ask that the design be examined closely for opportunities to minimize loss of trees and vegetation, as required under Glen Rock’s Stormwater Control Ordinance.” The GREC, a volunteer group of active and retired professionals with experience in ecology, sponsored a popular distribution to encourage local shopping and the use of reusable shopping bags. The bags were purchased with donated funds and decorated with a logo by Hy Eisman, a Glen Rock resident and nationally syndicated cartoonist. The group also hosted a series of well-attended films about environmental concerns at the Glen Rock Public Library, followed by lectures and question and answer sessions. Mehallow noted that the loss of the seven mature trees would strongly increase water (continued on page 14)