Atlanta  Journal Constitution - September 10, 2007

 

Blank Foundation helps keep Beltline in the shade

By Maria Saporta

 

nother dream for the Beltline. Create the world's longest linear arboretum.

That dream received a major boost last week when the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation gave $350,000 to Trees Atlanta to help build the first "model mile" of what eventually would be part of a 22-mile arboretum that would follow the Beltline corridor, a planned 22-mile loop of transit, trails and development around intown neighborhoods.

The Blank grant also will help pay for a conceptual master plan for the entire arboretum giving each section of the Beltline its own green identity.

What a fanciful idea.

It may be a cliché to call Atlanta: "A City in a Forest" or "A City of Trees."

But it's a cliché that is in peril. Both the city of Atlanta and the entire region are witnessing a rapid deforestation of its environment. Development, drought and urban wear and tear have greatly reduced the amount of tree cover in our region — estimated to be a loss of 50 acres a day.

It's time for Atlanta to root itself with its natural identity. Let's save our trees. Let's plant more trees. Let's value trees for all they do to make Atlanta a livable city.

"Trees are the city," said Marcia Bansley, executive director of Trees Atlanta. "The point is to get the people who live here to appreciate our trees. Without our trees, Atlanta is a very hot and miserable city."

So creating the Atlanta Beltline Arboretum will not only create a ring of green around the city. It also will showcase, through granite markers and other plaques, the identities of the various trees and the role they play in preserving our environment.

Trees Atlanta is working in concert with the PATH Foundation, the entity that plans and develops bicycle and pedestrian trails throughout the metro area, to build the first leg of the arboretum.

That mile, which should be completed by next spring, will be in the southwest quadrant of the Beltline near Atlanta's West End and West View neighborhoods. The PATH Foundation already has received funding to build more than two miles of trail along the Beltline in that same corridor.

"Our goal for this model mile is to put as many bells and whistles on it to demonstrate what the Beltline can be," Path executive director Ed McBrayer said. "We want to make this something that's very special."

It's not an easy endeavor. Much of the Beltline corridor has been overgrown with kudzu and other invasive plant species. The Blank Foundation grant will go toward removing the kudzu along that mile, as well as in a group of existing city parks. Trees Atlanta, with the help of volunteers, has experience in removing invasive plants, which in the case of kudzu, is a five-year process.

The grant also will go toward planting 200 trees in the Westview and West End neighborhoods. The ultimate idea is that the entire arboretum will be one of many features that will tie the Beltline together and connect the 45 neighborhoods along its route. The concept also includes installing pieces of public art along the corridor, and using historical markers to relate the various communities to their past.

But for Trees Atlanta, the spotlight naturally will be on the arboretum's trees.

"This will be a collection of trees that will have an educational purpose," Bansley says. "It's going to be a tree museum, but, of course, all these trees will be alive."

The hope is the first "model mile" will serve as an inspiration for the entire ring. Once the conceptual master plan is completed later this year, Trees Atlanta hopes the concept will become an integral part of the Beltline.

"Part of the long-term expectation for the arboretum is that the people who are developing along the Beltline will understand this theme and connect it in with their developments," Bansley says.

Many visions exist for the Beltline. Green trails with parks. New residences and economic development. Transit. A public art corridor.

All these visions have merit. But no vision is more compelling than using the Beltline as a way for Atlanta to show off its trees.

That point hit home at the Georgia Conservancy's Common Ground conference on Friday, when Ray Anderson — a homegrown environmentalist who founded the Interface carpet manufacturer — recited some of his research.

"A tree in the city is worth 11 to 14 in the forest because of all the shade they provide," according to Anderson, who added that everyone "should give a tree for Christmas."

And Atlanta's trees also pleasantly impact out-of-towners. The Blank Foundation invited Joel Kotkin, a futurist and an unconventional urbanist, to Atlanta in July to speak about the future of metro areas.

Kotkin, who lives in Southern California, readily admitted he knew little about Atlanta. But after spending a day or two in town, he was most impressed by Atlanta's trees and its tree-lined neighborhoods.

"That's your most precious resource," Kotkin told the audience of Atlanta leaders.

Creating the world's longest arboretum — an endeavor that may take a couple of decades to implement — will go a long way toward helping us appreciate our greatest natural asset. The arboretum can help redefine Atlanta — providing a magnet like Boston's Arnold Arboretum — to visitors and residents alike.

And we'll be able to retain our reputation as a city of trees.

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