BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. It's a proverb that fits in well here in Western New York.
Where there's a growing movement to get new trees in the ground right now.
Trees being cut down in certain areas of the city bring the mood down for some people.
"It brings out a bit of frustration, there's no question," said Matthew Downey, who loves hanging out at LaSalle Park.
LaSalle undergoing changes to become Ralph Wilson Park.
Where are my trees?
Well the ones in LaSalle are down because of construction, but your trees may have been cut down for several reasons.
If you live in the Elmwood Village, a sneaky bug has gotten rid of most of the ash trees.
"Ash trees, they've been eaten up by this little bug the ash borer," said Paul Maurer, Chairman of ReTree WNY.
Then there's the older trees, silver maples planted in the 60's and 70's can't hold up through our WNY winters as well these days.
Winters are damaging to most trees and the Blizzard of 2022 and six feet of snow didn't help.
When will my tree return?
The City of Buffalo's 311 request line tracks tree requests, you can make one here.
ReTree works with the city to help fill those requests.
"We just look for areas that needs to be planted, we work closely with the city, they tell us what kind of species to put in a particular spot. When we lose a tree, we will replace it with a better situation," said Maurer.
Maurer has become a bit of an expert on trees in the past 17 years.
ReTree began as an effort to bring thousands of trees back after the October 2006 storm, also known as "The night the trees died."
They hit that goal and have since kept going. They've recently hit Elmwood Avenue and planted new trees outside of Futures Academy in East Buffalo.
"To just make the neighborhood a better neighborhood better by way of looks for the neighborhood, it kind of softens the look of the street, it adds values to the homes in the neighborhood," said Maurer.
Those will grow all summer, then the shovels go back in the ground in the fall to hit these areas:
- Poplar Ave
- Dote Street
- The First Ward
- Niagara Street
- North Buffalo
Want to help plant? Click here for more info. If you want to apply to have trees planted in your neighborhood, visit this link.
