Mark Bennett: Effort to replenish city parks' tree canopies starts with Deming, Collett next

Apr. 27—Being rated No. 1 in America for anything positive is a special feat.

Staying rated No. 1 in America requires persistence.

The trees gracing the landscape of Terre Haute's city parks play a large role in the quality of those public greenspaces. Those oaks, maples, walnuts, sycamores and other species in Terre Haute's 25 parks helped the town earn a ranking that might surprise many residents.

Terre Haute ranked first in the nation for parks per capita in both the 2019 and 2020 Best Small Cities in America report by personal finance website WalletHub. The city has fallen slightly since, ranking 21st-best last year, but that's still notable among a field of 1,319 U.S. cities.

The local parks' popularity relies on a healthy batch of trees. "When people go to a park, they want to put out a blanket and enjoy a shady spot for a picnic," said Ann Ryan, president of TREES Inc., the nonprofit environmental group that's planted 5,400 trees around Terre Haute since 1990.

That's particularly significant today, Arbor Day, a nationwide observance that began in Nebraska, sparked by a newspaper editor.

Terre Haute needs good trees in its parks, which can be an economic development tool and just plain good for local folks who already live here.

"One of the jewels of Terre Haute is its parks system," added Brian Conley, a longtime TREES board member. "I've never been to another city, including Indianapolis, that has better parks."

The 33-year total of trees planted by the group includes 120 trees placed into the soil of Deming Park in December. That effort was led by TREES, carried out by professional landscapers and supported through a grant from the J. Morton and June K. Swango Fund administered by the Wabash Valley Community Foundation. The grant helps a TREES Inc. task force carry out a five-year plan to improve the tree canopies in the city parks in conjunction with the Terre Haute Parks and Recreation Department, the organization says. The late June Swango was a longtime TREES member.

The effort to replenish the city parks' trees "really starts with June and her love of trees," Ryan said. She also credited former TREES president Kim Kimbler's leadership in launching the project.

With that funding, the group thought, "Let's reforest our parks," Conley recalled.

The first step was an inventory of the trees in the city's signature park, scenic and historic 177-acre Deming Park on the east end of Ohio Boulevard. Indigo Tree Consulting of Indianapolis conducted the survey of Deming in 2021, and this spring conducted a second survey of Collett Park on the city's north side.

The firm measured the trees, identified their species and assessed their health, Conley said late last month as he and Ryan toured Deming to look at the newly planted trees.

"We were a little stunned at how many trees were in fair or poor condition," Conley said.

Indigo's report classified 60% of the 1,600 trees surveyed in Deming as in fair condition, while 35% were assessed in poor condition. Only 3% were rated in good or good-to-excellent condition. Two percent of Deming's trees were assessed as dead or dying and in need of removal.

Though the survey didn't specifically gauge the trees' ages, their measurements offer clues. Eleven percent of Deming's trees measured 42 inches in diameter or more. Given that the average lifespan of oaks and maples — the two most common trees in the city parks — can range between a century and 400 years, many Deming trees started growing before the park's founding in 1921 and the city's official start in 1818.

Deming contains 92 species of trees, and 40% of the park's were either oaks (22%) or maples (18%) at the time of the 2021 survey. The third most plentiful species was walnuts at 5%, according to the Indigo report.

So, supported by the Swango fund, TREES arranged for 100 hardwood trees native to Indiana to be planted at Deming, and that happened in December. An additional 20 "memorial" trees, in honor of members' and contributors' loved ones, were also planted.

The next step in the process was Collett Park, the city's oldest park and dating back to 1883. Indigo conducted a similar survey at Collett this spring and found that only 2% of its 444 trees measured 42 inches in diameter or more. Almost half of Collett's canopy were oaks (28%) or maples (21%), although it contains 53 different species overall.

TREES hopes to plant more trees in Collett, and then continue the project at Fairbanks Park, Herz-Rose Park and the rest in coming years. Collett's will be next.

"We definitely will be planting, based on the [Indigo] recommendations at some point in the future," Ryan said.

She recalled that an old tree fell on one of the newly planted trees. "If there's ever evidence of the need for what we're doing, it's that," Ryan said.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.