I have to say that I think this is absolutely a brilliant idea for fund raising and I fully support all efforts to reTREE WNY.

However let me please just make a comment that our main corridors are terribly terribly shappy and i certainly hope that all the benefit of planting trees will not be focused merely on parks but also on our major corridors such as Ohio, South Park, Exchange, Genessee, Broadway, William, Niagara, Elmwood, Delaware, Linwood, Main, Jefferson, Fillmore, Michigan and thats just the short list.....because parks are great but these streets are major commercial corridors into and out of the city that people see daily.....making a pleasurable and pleasing experience along these corridors may have an equal if not more of an everyday impact on Buffalos quality of life and livability than trees in a park.

and instead of a mural or graffiti....its very inexpensive to simply plant an ivy to cover up a blank wall of a neglected or poorly maintained building.

Well only if they plant trees that can provide a canapy like disease resistant elms.

please please add Hertel to that list.... in need of more trees....

Great Idea!!!

Too bad it takes a disaster on the scale of the October storm before people realize that we have too few trees and that we should be investing in them. Maybe this is a start of a longer more stable support structure for growing the urban canopy in our city and region.

Chris69, agreed on re-planting the corridors, and ReTreeWNY will be doing that. From their website:

Our mission is the same as our name, Re-Tree WNY. We are working on this project as a five-year plan with a goal to replace the approximately 30,000 trees in Western New York that were damaged or destroyed. Our first planting will be on Arbor Day, April 27, 2007 and we have set a minimum goal of 3,000 trees to be planted.

There will be fund-raising, stock to be purchased, volunteers and professionals to be organized and many needy towns to be taken care-of that lost their trees from the storm. We will tackle neighborhood streets, parks (such as our unique and valuable Olmsted Parks), public venues, by-ways -- any project that needs our help to renew a precious local resource that has suffered harm.

Wow, 30,000 trees to be planted.

My hats off to Paul and everyone who made ReTREE happen, this I think is great PR for Buffalo as it shows the true Buffalo Spirit. Wonder if Robby Takac and Johnny Rzeznik would mind helping out?