Time for trees

Nevada trees 2000

For more information on the Nevada Trees 2000 project, contact the attorney general's office in Carson City at (775) 684-1100, or go to the project's website at trees2000.com.

If all goes as hoped, nearly 1.8 million new trees -- one for each citizen -- will sprout from Nevada's dusty floor by the end of the year.

Drought-tolerant trees will line freeway ramps, highways and byways to absorb the carbon monoxide coughed up by passing cars.

Woody perennials will block strong winds that stir dust from the semideveloped land and other projects in progress.

The leaves, while absorbing harmful dust, will conserve energy by providing shade to residential areas and parking lots -- known as "heat islands" -- that raise valley temperatures.

More poetically, the trees will be a legacy passed on to future generations.

The Nevada Trees 2000 Project, unveiled in October by Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Secretary of State Dean Heller, is a statewide effort to beautify Nevada and celebrate the new millennium by challenging "Nevadans to plant one tree for every citizen of the Silver State by the end of 2000." Drought-resistant, regionally appropriate trees are encouraged.

"That's the vision," Michael Pennington, Del Papa's executive assistant, said. "It's a lofty goal. But we're fully committed to reaching that number as closely as possible."

Nevada Division of Forestry and University of Nevada, Reno Cooperative Extension are partners in the project.

A task force created for the project includes state agencies, municipalities and schools. Some involved include the Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada Landscape Association, Las Vegas Valley Water District and Nevada Department of Agriculture.

Whether 2 million trees will actually be planted in the name of the project remains to be seen. Many groups support the project, but haven't got the funds to make a commitment.

Some groups have turned ongoing projects into an opportunity to contribute to Nevada Trees 2000.

Trees 2000 was designed to bring people together as a coalition reach out further into the community, Pennington said.

"There are various entities doing their own things," he added. "We're basically the umbrella."

Clark County used a $150,000 grant from American Express and hundreds of volunteers who planted 750 trees March 1 in the wetlands area as one contribution.

Heat islands

Many task-force members are working with the state Transportation Department to coordinate tree planting along roads.

State roads are in dire need of help from trees, said Dennis Swartzell, UNLV's arboretum director and a Trees 2000 task-force member. Parking lots and other large slabs of concrete and pavement create heat islands.

NASA recently cited heat islands in a study that found the climate in urban areas, including Las Vegas, is changing and cutting biological productivity.

The Clark County and Henderson parks and recreation departments suggested a way to increase the landscaping along highways. They offer to maintain it if the Transportation Department provided the material, said Russ Thompson, senior management analyst for the county parks department, who is a certified arborist and horticulturist.

"We're hoping for extremely drought-resistant trees," Thompson said. "Then it would just be a matter of us going in a couple of times each year to do some pruning and check the health of the tree."

Newer highway ramps on U.S. 95 don't have much plant materials, he said. State roads, such as parts of Lake Mead Drive and Flamingo Road on the way to Boulder Highway, could also use some trees.

One reason the Transportation Department doesn't landscape more is because there is so much maintenance, Thompson said.

Another reason is because landscaping competes for the same dollars that build roads, according to Gene Weight, district engineer for Southern Nevada, said.

In some cases, such as the widening of Interstate 15 from Sahara Avenue to Charleston Boulevard, there is no room for landscaping, Weight added.

Thompson said the county parks department has taken parcels from the state department in the past and maintained them.

As for parking lots, a county ordinance passed last month requires landscape islands to be placed on all parking lots. It specifically requires trees to be planted on developed areas along streets and as buffers in areas that separate commercial from residential development.

"Before there was no specific requirement for trees in the landscaping," said Chuck Pulsipher, county senior management analyst for comprehensive planning.

The regulations aim to conserve energy, hold down dust and reduce heat islands, he said. The ordinance is part of a revision of development standards.

Damon Ohlerking, urban designer/forester for Boulder City, said the town could become as much as 3 degrees cooler from 15,000 trees that will be planted over a five-year period as part of an emissions reduction credit program administered by the Clark County Health District.

The $1.5 million project is funded by a contract with El Dorado Energy. For each amount of particulate matter the company releases, it must take out twice as much, Ohlerking said. Tree planting is one way to do that.

Twenty-three species, both shade trees and desert plants, are being planted over a five-year period. The trees would take as much water as a nine-hole golf course, he said.

"By placing trees on the sides of the freeways, we can begin to clean the air within 10 to 15 years," Ohlerking said.

Seven hundred plants, 184 of which were trees, were planted on Adams Boulevard in Boulder City. This October 3,000 plants, 500 of which will be trees, are scheduled to be planted along U.S. 93.

"Just think of doing that on Las Vegas Boulevard north of the freeway," Ohlerking said. "The freeway system has very few plants, and 400 of them are being taken out on the west side of the Spaghetti Bowl."

Appropriate trees

UNLV's inventory includes 3,210 trees and 120 species, Swartzell said. "The entire campus has been designated as an arboretum. It has a much higher density of trees than residential areas."

About 50 percent of UNLV trees are drought tolerant, he said. Most of the older trees, planted 40 years ago, are less drought tolerant because of availability at the time.

"We have six buildings under construction. Hundreds of trees will go in as a result of this construction project," he said. "The newer plantings are in a more efficient category."

In addition to water conservation, planters need to look at pollen issues and irrigation systems that avoid adding extra humidity, said Jodi Bechtel, district coordinator for the Conservation District of Southern Nevada.

In November 1998 the conservation district began a yearlong pilot tree inventory in two sections of the Las Vegas Valley that collected data on tree species, numbers and health; identified trees that needed pruning or removal; and documented the location of trees contributing to air allergens.

At the time there was little information on the valley's existing urban forest, Bechtel said.

The conservation district worked with Clark County Comprehensive Planning, Clark County Health District and Nevada Cooperative Extension.

The main purpose of the Eco-Analysis Pilot Project was to look at the effects of the valley's existing urban forest on air quality. The foliage absorbs dust. The broader the leaf, the more the absorption. Both areas were 4 square miles selected for their range of land use. Results were mailed to researchers and planners, who Bechtel said have taken an interest.

The software used in the project, however, was limiting and did not account for water consumption rates of trees.

Bechtel is hoping people will continue the research. With more funds, a complete inventory could be taken.

There are a lot of areas to look at when making a tree plan, Bechtel said. "We kind of have a unique situation. We have to be more careful than any Eastern city when planting."

The Nevada Division of Forestry, along with other agencies, created a guide for planting regionally appropriate trees.

The trees were selected because of water conservation, climate adaptability, low-cost maintenance, and pollution and pollen issues, said John Jones, resource management officer with the Nevada Division of Forestry. Local cooperative extensions also provide that information.

The top 10 trees recommended for Southern Nevada include ash, elm, honey locust, mesquite, oak, pine, desert willow, Chaste Tree, mimosa and palo verde.

Visionaries

The idea for Trees 2000 originated 10 years ago when Del Papa was chairwoman of Nevada's 125th birthday celebration during which trees were planted in Northern Nevada as a gift, Pennington said. Del Papa and Heller thought it was a good idea for the millennium celebration.

Cities, counties and agencies are challenging each other to make tree contributions. Schools statewide have been contacting Del Papa's office to see how they can help.

Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro pledged to plant 15,000 trees, then challenged other mayors to plant a tree for each resident in their city, Pennington said.

"What we're really hoping for is that it has a longer lasting effect," Pennington said.

"We don't want it to necessarily end on Nevada Day or at the end of the millennium celebration. We want to see if we can have some system put in place at the institutional level, such as government, nonprofit and private organizations.

"The task force is looking at long-term goals and planning such as, 'When a highway is built, will there be landscaping?' "

Ohlerking said Boulder City residents came out from the woodwork to help.

Could it happen in Las Vegas?

"If you think of Las Vegas as not a megaplex, but two dozen villages where activities can be centered, I think there is much chance for success," Ohlerking said.

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