Official Town of Fort Myers Beach Government Web Site

Projects funded through the Town’s 2005 Urban Forestry Hurricane Recovery Grant………

The Town of Fort Myers Beach was the recipient of a 2005 Urban Forestry Hurricane Recovery Grant in the amount of $95,786.32, after Charley hit our barrier island on Friday, August 13, 2004.

Because of funding for this project provided by the USDA Forest Service through the Florida Division of Forestry’s Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program, the Town was able to:

· Add 1,556 total trees to the island through bi-annual Arbor Day tree sales in January and April from 2005 thru 2008, where the Town offered these trees at half price (the Town paying the other half)

· Incorporate 38 trees to Fort Myers Beach Accesses

· Purchase two water bladders, one 50 gallon tank and one 100 gallon tank for maintaining Beach Access plantings

· Acquire a Reforestation Landscape Architect for the historic Mound House

· Produce a 40 Page “Shades of Fort Myers Beach” educational Streetscape booklet as a guide for residents to successfully select and plant trees suited to our unique island environment – copies will be available to all residents after April 18th

· Eliminate some of the invasive species on both sides of Big Carlos Pass on Fort Myers Beach and replace with 18 (25 gallon size) native trees, such as the Gumbo Limbo and Southern Slash Pine

All these projects are a direct result of our Urban Forestry Recovery Grant. We appreciate the support and guidance from the USDA Forest Service and the State of Florida Division of Forestry for making us aware of these programs and how much they mean to our community’s urban forests and the well being of our residents.

In conjunction, by establishing Town forestry responsibilities in the Department of Community Development with the assistance of the Estero Island Garden Club, the Town became certified as a Tree City USA for the first time in 2005 and most recently recertified for the third consecutive year 2007.

WHY TREES ARE IMPORTANT

Top 10 Reasons Why Trees Are Valuable and Important:

1. Trees Produce Oxygen: Let's face it, we could not exist as we do if there were no trees. A mature leafy tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year. What many
people don't realize is the forest also acts as a giant filter that cleans the air we breathe.

2. Trees Clean the Soil: The term 'phytoremediation' is a fancy word for the absorption of dangerous chemicals and other pollutants that have entered the soil. Trees can either store harmful pollutants or actually change the pollutant into less harmful forms. Trees filter sewage and farm chemicals, reduce the effects of animal wastes, clean roadside spills and clean water runoff into streams.

3. Trees Control Noise Pollution: Trees muffle urban noise almost as effectively as stone walls. Trees planted at strategic points in a neighborhood or around your house, can abate major noises from freeways and airports.

4. Trees Slow Storm Water Runoff: Flash flooding can be dramatically reduced by a forest or by planting trees. One Colorado blue spruce, either planted or growing wild, can intercept more than 1000 gallons of water annually when fully grown. Underground water-holding aquifers are recharged with this slowing down of water runoff.

5. Trees are Carbon Sinks: To produce its food, a tree absorbs and locks away carbon dioxide in the wood, roots and leaves. Carbon dioxide is a global warming suspect. A forest is a carbon
storage area or a "sink" that can lock up as much carbon as it produces. This locking-up process "stores" carbon as wood and not as an available "greenhouse" gas.

6. Trees Clean the Air: Trees help cleanse the air by intercepting particles, reducing heat, and absorbing such pollutants as carbon monoxide, sulphur-dioxide, and nitrogendioxide. Trees
remove this air pollution by lowering air temperature, through respiration, and by retaining particulates.

7. Trees Shade and Cool: Shade resulting in cooling is what a tree is best known for. Shade from trees reduces the need for air conditioning in the summer. In winter, trees break the force of
winter winds, lowering heating costs. Studies have shown that parts of cities without cooling shade from trees can literally be "heat islands" with temperatures as much as 12 degrees Fahrenheit higher than surrounding areas.

8. Trees Act as Windbreaks: During windy and cold seasons, trees located on the windward side act as windbreaks. A wind break can lower home heating bills up to 30% and have a significant effect on reducing snow drifts. A reduction in wind can also reduce the drying effect on soil and vegetation behind the windbreak and help keep precious topsoil in place.

9. Trees Fight Soil Erosion: Erosion control has always started with tree and grass planting projects. Tree roots bind the soil and their leaves break the force of wind and rain on soil. Trees
fight soil erosion, conserve rainwater and reduce water runoff and sediment deposit after storms.

10. Trees Increase Property Values: Real estate values increase when trees beautify a property or neighborhood. Trees can increase the property value of your home by 15% or more.