Letter to the County Board:
In an April 23 article, âDispute over Arlington tree canopy heats upâ (http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/dispute-over-arlington-tree-canopy-heats-up/article_9aa28320-46ee-11e8-8c76-5bf7f38375a0.html), Scott McCaffrey quotes County Board Vice Chair Christian Dorsey as downplaying citizen concerns about the Countyâs recent tree canopy study: âQuibbling over a percentage point or two is ânot really useful for our public-policy work,â Dorsey said.â
But the argument is not so much about the size of the reported changes in the Countyâs tree canopy from 2011 to 2016 as with how the County has interpreted and publicized the results of the report.
If we shouldnât be quibbling over a percentage point or two change in the tree canopy, since âreasonable people can disagreeâ (Board Chair Katie Cristol) in their interpretations of the report results, then why has the County been publicizing a very favorable interpretation of the supposed one percent increase, without acknowledging that reasonable people could disagree about the positive spin? For example:
— Headline in the Countyâs March-April 2018 âThe Citizenâ: âArlington Tree Canopy on the Reboundâ https://www.arlingtonva.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Citizen-Newsletter-Mar-Apr-2018.pdf;
— Posters in our parks claiming that âSince 2011 we reversed the decline and added 159 acres to our tree canopy.â
— Presentations to County elected officials, commissions and citizens claiming a tree canopy increase.
— INSIDENOVA headline: âOfficials: Arlington tree canopy posts a slight reboundâ http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/officials-arlington-tree-canopy-posts-a-slight-rebound/article_ddd48892-0755-11e8-8c09-83d5d764fa82.html
This positive spin leads County officials and citizens to assume our tree canopy is doing fine.
Why is this a problem? When the County claims our tree canopy is increasing, supporters of development use that claim to argue that further loss of trees is not a problem because âArlington actually has more trees now than in 2011.â https://ggwash.org/view/67303/this-vacant-site-could-become-180-affordable-homes-but-it-needs-help
But a look at Figure 8 in the tree canopy report shows the real story without a happy face: a swath of tree destruction running through the northern and central parts of the County. Â https://arlingtonva.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2018/01/Arlington-County-Tree-Canopy-Report-2016-.pdf
Thatâs worth arguing about.
Bill Roos
Arlington