Maureen Bell always hoped to see foliage from the window of her Taunton home.
In May, after living there more than two decades, Bell got her wish. The state planted two fledgling trees in her front yard — a sweetgum tree and a paperbark maple — part of a state program called Greening the Gateway Cities.
She called this program a “godsend,” because planting would have cost her time, money and labor.
“When I put the picket fence in the corner, it’s going to feel complete,” she said. Now that the trees are in the ground, it’s up to Bell to care for them.
The state program helps provide free greenery in Taunton and the state’s other 25 Gateway Cities, often depleted of natural canopies.
Mathew Cahill, a community forester with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, says the program has planted over 50,000 trees — including Turkish filberts, bald cypresses and pin oaks — in these midsize cities from New Bedford to Pittsfield. A lack of green space can make those urban areas unusually hot in summers. Cahill says the trees clean the air and, indirectly, lower utility costs for homeowners.
“One of the best things you can do for that is to plant a shade tree by your home,” he said.
“They get the benefits of the planting. As the forester here, I get the benefit of getting more trees in the ground.”Nate Nuby, forester with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation
The state launched the initiative more than a decade ago in Chelsea, where it has planted more than 2,500 trees, according to the state website. Roseann Bongiovanni, executive director of the local environmental justice organization GreenRoots, said the program’s still thriving in Chelsea.
“Chelsea is a great incubator for pilot projects like this, and it’s really wonderful to see them expand throughout the state,” she said.
The greening in Taunton is being done in collaboration with Wildlands Trust, a land conservation nonprofit. Rachel Bruce, chief of staff for Wildlands Trust, told GBH News that the effort is needed because people in densely developed areas often don’t have access to green space the way they do in more rural or suburban communities.
“There’s been a historic disinvestment in conservation and environmental management in the Gateway Cities,” she said.
Nate Nuby, another forester with the state’s conservation department, says members of the program often meet with residents to see what kind of trees they want, why they want those particular trees and where they’d like them planted.
He says a lot of their outreach is done through door-to-door canvassing. The residential street looked bare, Nuby said. Oftentimes those trees get taken down. The resources aren’t there to put them back, which is a reason why we’re here operating in the city.”
Nuby says the program wouldn’t be possible without the willingness of the community. “They’re the ones that let us plant. They get the benefits of the planting,’’ he said. “As the forester here, I get the benefit of getting more trees in the ground.”
Bell said she’s noticed a decline in trees in her Taunton neighborhood. Just recently, she said, her neighbors removed a pine tree that had been home to cardinals.
“The trees are all being cut down,’’ she said. “The birds have no place to go.”
Bell was out of town the day her trees were planted. But her neighbor, Tami Mackinnon, gave her updates over FaceTime as the crew planted the small trees in her yard. A crew member noted that he left some instructions for when Bell got back.
Mackinnon says she has lived in Taunton for 29 years and has noticed the number of trees dwindling.
“When I moved here years ago, there were trees here and there throughout this whole street,” she said. “And now as you can see there’s not a tree in sight.”
She said she was happy to learn that she could apply for trees at her own home, too.
“Trees bring some shade, and the visual aspect is nice,” Mackinnon said. “I’ll look at my neighbor’s until then.”
