Newport Tree Society Calls for Active Regeneration of City's Urban Forest

For the first time, Newport declared the week in April between Earth Day and Arbor Day as Newport Arboretum Week. The Newport Tree Society proclaimed the first annual Newport Arboretum Week,  was the perfect vehicle to carry out their mission of “fostering a healthy, growing urban forest in the city of Newport, RI.”

“Unlike other places where an arboretum is consolidated on a few acres, much like a park, all of Newport is an arboretum,” said Lilly Dick, President of the Newport Tree Society.

New England’s first city-wide arboretum includes four key elements: self-guided city tree walks, planting programs, tree tags posted on more than 300 trees, and virtual tree-walks available online for computers and smart phones.

During the Gilded Age, Newport’s wealthy imported rare and exotic trees from around the world to supplement the landscapes of their summer cottages. A century later these trees still provide a unique natural asset for Newporters to continue to learn from and enjoy.

The Newport Tree Society was founded in 1987 to create a sustainable tree protection, maintenance, and planting program for the city of Newport. The society has worked to qualify the city for special funding of tree and forestry programs from state and federal agencies.

In 1991, Newport began celebrating Arbor Day. That same year, thanks to the Newport Tree Society, the city passed the Newport Tree Protection, Maintenance and Planting ordinance and became the second Rhode Island city to receive a Tree City USA Certification. Twenty years after Newport’s first Arbor Day, the society launched Newport Arboretum Week.

“Our urban forest is taken for grated. Students cannot identify our most common tree species, the city’s renowned copper beech population is failing at an alarming rate, private citizens are failing to protect their trees, and too few of us are planting to regenerate Newport’s unique forest of specimen trees for the next generation,” said one society member.

Although public tree planting initiatives have helped the local populations, many of the older trees are now in natural decline. Since the urban forest is man-made, deliberate maintenance and regeneration is necessary to continue the city-wide arboretum for future generations.

Many of the city’s specimen trees are located on private property, often visibly accessible by the public, known as borrowed landscape. Many Newporters find themselves caring for these rare trees and the Newport Tree Society can provide them with the support and education necessary to preserve them. By educating the public, the Newport Tree Society hopes to empower locals to understand and appreciate the city’s trees and even get involved in city forestry and conservation.

In the past year, the Newport Tree Society has created the Colonial Tree Walk, the first of several developing tree walks, which begins at Washington Square and ends near the Newport Art Museum. The organization also received more than $30,000 in grant awards last year from various foundations and trusts as well as corporate and private donors.

“We continue our work to highlight the value of Newport’s trees while supporting the city’s program to educate the public of their value. We want to show people that there are a variety of ways to incorporate these beautiful trees into your everyday life,” Dick said.