Pittsfield Celebrates Arbor Day 2013
Robert Mellace of DCR said Arbor Day is 'one of the holidays when one person can make a difference.' |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Robert Presutti is considered the "go-to" guy when it comes to anything tree-related.
The Lanesborough resident has been volunteering his expertise since 1998. He's served on his hometown's Tree Committee, for which he was named an Outstanding Citizen Forester by the state in 2005, and on the board of the Vincent J. Hebert Arboreteum at Springside Park.
Presutti is often seen taking care of trees at Springside and running free pruning workshops, and has worked with the Department of Public Works. He goes to conferences across the state on his own time and now is establishing a seed orchard at Springside Park.
"We're trying to establish a small tree orchard exclusively planting American chestnut," said the city's Parks, Open Space and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath. "The American chestnut was virtually wiped out as a street tree."
McGrath showed Presutti how much his volunteerism means to the city when he was honored on Friday afternoon with a plaque, a gift and the planting of a tree in his honor at Pitt Park.
"You really are our go-to volunteer," McGrath said.
The honor was part of the city's Arbor Day celebration, a holiday encouraging people to plant a tree.
"We plant trees because it improves the landscape, the vitality of it," said state Department of Conservation and Recreation Regional Director Robert Mellace, who added that trees improve the landscape and the economy. "This is one of those holidays where one person can make a difference."
Mellace said people often take forest lands for granted in the wooded and rural Berkshires but people need to be vigilant in protecting those trees. He cited the recent discovery here of emerald ash borer, an invasive species that kills ash trees.
|
The cottonwood tree at Pitt Park has a circumference of nearly 25 feet and is believed to be more than 300 years old. |
"We tend to take them for granted in the Berkshires but we have to be vigilant because there are threats," he said.
One of those threats could be heard in the background as the loud buzz of a chainsaw often overwhelmed the speakers' voices. And while residents years ago called for the same fate for a large cottonwood tree at the park, Mellace is glad "we didn't listen to what the public said on that one."
The cottonwood measures 24.7 feet in circumference and 86 feet tall, making it the second largest one in the state. Arborist recently estimated that the tree is well over 300 years old.
On Friday, parks officials honored the tree as well with the posting of a sign recognizing it as a "state champion tree."
"Today we celebrate this grant tree that is beloved by many," McGrath said.
The city has been holding an Arbor Day celebration every year since 1997 but Friday's was extra special for Pitt Park because the city acquired the park 100 years ago, according to McGrath.
When the city became one of the first to create a Parks Commission, it adopted Pitt Park.
"Certainly, this park is an important part of this community," McGrath said.
The ceremony also included a declaration of the holiday by Mayor Daniel Bianchi.
Arbor Day was begun in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton of the Nebraska Board of Agriculture. It was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska and has grown since then. Now all 50 states celebrate Arbor Day as well as other countries.
"It's a worldwide event," Mellace said.
Tags: arbor day, awards, park, trees,
