By Sherri Blevins
For the past eight years, the City of Rainsville has been named as a part of the Tree City USA program. Kayron Guffey heads up the project each year and has orchestrated the addition of several trees to make Rainsville a better place to reside.
The City of Rainsville has helped fund the program from the beginning, and for the past two years, RTI (now known as MTNA) has donated $1,000.00 to the project to purchase trees.
The Tree City USA program provides communities a four-step framework to maintain and grow their tree cover. It also gives them an avenue to celebrate their work, showing residents, visitors, and the entire country that they’re committed to the mission of environmental change.
A thriving urban forest offers many advantages to communities. Here are just a few:
- Trees help absorb the sounds of traffic in urban areas by 40%.
- Neighborhoods with trees are seven to nine degrees cooler than those without.
- Trees reduce energy costs by up to 25% by shading buildings and protecting them from winter winds.
- Homes with trees have higher property values.
- Green space plays a major role in improving mental and physical health.
- Planting and maintaining trees absorbs carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mitigating the effects of climate change.
Thank you to all involved in the project.
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