Around 200 new trees were recently planted at the site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center site, according to a video released by the Atlanta Police Department.
The video posted to the department’s Facebook page shows young trees being lowered into the ground around the 85-acre site. The video’s description says the trees were planted during the first two weeks of December and are all Georgia-grown, native plants.
In January, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond signed an agreement that spelled out environmental efforts among other conditions, noting Atlanta’s commitment to plant 100 hardwood trees “for every specimen tree impacted by construction.”
The plans to build the $90 million training facility for Atlanta’s police and fire departments have drawn fierce opposition from several groups. Opponents say the site will spur police militarization and worry about the potential environmental impact of previous tree removals. The South River Watershed Alliance and other groups, in a complaint to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of External Civil Rights Compliance, say construction has already caused environmental problems that disproportionally affect Black and Hispanic residents.
Last month, demonstrators marching to the site were dispersed by police. Some of the protesters carried shovels they said were meant for planting trees; police considered them weapons. The night after the march, a number of vehicles were burned at a concrete company in Gwinnett County. An anonymous faction of opponents claimed credit for the arson in an online post titled, “Make Contractors Afraid Again.”
The training center, being built on part of a 380-acre tract owned by the city of Atlanta in southwestern DeKalb County, is expected to open in about a year, authorities have said.
The site is located of Key Road in the South River Forest — one of the largest remaining urban forests in the region. While APD has said the portion that was cleared and graded for the facility was mostly covered by invasive weeds, brush and trash, the surrounding area is largely old-growth forest.
Trees provide many environmental benefits, especially in urban areas.
Researchers have known for years that blocks shaded by trees are cooler than those covered by heat-absorbing buildings and pavement. As Atlanta and other cities warm due to human-caused climate change, experts say trees are among the city’s most effective defenses against dangerous extreme heat. Tree roots also help manage stormwater runoff and reduce flooding.
Tree plantings are important to maintaining and growing Atlanta’s urban forest, but experts say it takes decades for a tree planted today to grow large enough to lower temperatures and reduce flooding in surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, Atlanta — dubbed the “city in the forest” for its expansive tree cover — is losing its trademark tree canopy as development booms.
The Atlanta City Council has adopted an informal goal of reaching 50% canopy coverage citywide, but a 2018 canopy assessment conducted by Tony Giarrusso, a senior research scientist at Georgia Tech, found Atlanta’s tree cover had already shrunk to 46.5%.
An analysis conducted last year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found tree removals — both legal and illegal — plus those classified as dead, dying or hazardous, have consistently outpaced tree plantings in the city in recent years.
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