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June 21, 2007

Providence's leafy limbs save greenbacks / Photo

PROVIDENCE -- The mayor says there's value in the city's trees: $2,932,731 annually, to be exact.

That's the annual benefit -- $118 per tree -- in terms of the amount of carbon and pollution the trees "intercept," the storm water they collect and the cut in energy consumption and increase to property values, according to a Providence tree inventory.

Mayor David N. Cicilline's office called it the most comprehensive tree inventory in the city's history and said the tally will allow Providence to make decisions about caring for the nearly 25,000 street trees.

The tally found that for every dollar the city spends on its tree program, it is "paid back" $3.33 in benefits yearly.

More than 23 percent of trees were in excellent condition and 48.9 percent in good condition, according to the tally results. More than 18 percent were in fair condition, 7.3 percent in poor condition and 1.6 percent were dead.

The tally also found that 41.5 percent of the trees had utility wires above them.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 1:12 PM | Permalink

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