Nashville’s Tree Protections Fall Short
To find the complete comparative analysis, follow this link.
The Impact of Nashville's Indifference to Tree Protection
The Nashville Tree Conservation Corps conducted a poll in February to determine what issues Nashvillians considered most important for protecting trees. The poll showed that local residents are most concerned about protecting intact woods and slope areas, followed by setting requirements for tree planting in new developments and subdivisions.
These poll results guide our work in advocating for new tree ordinances in Nashville. This effort is critically important since Nashville has not kept pace with other nearby cities in regulating the removal and replanting of trees.
Nashville Falls Short
Will Worrall, a civil and environmental engineer and NTCC board member, has compiled data that compares Metro Nashville to six other nearby jurisdictions: Williamson County, Franklin, Forest Hills, Brentwood, Chattanooga and Knoxville. Looking at clearcutting restrictions, penalties for illegal tree removals and heritage tree protections, the comparison shows that Nashville has none of the protections in place that the other six cities have. (See accompanying chart for details.) All six municipalities studied have some kind of clearcutting restrictions, some have heritage tree protections, and all the other cities profiled have penalties for illegal tree removal (in the form of fines, replanting requirements and/or jail time).
Our conclusion from Will’s research is that Nashville’s lack of legislation to manage tree removal is more than a problem -- it’s unacceptable and detrimental to the environment and our quality of life, which is why the Tree Corps will support new legislation and work to move it forward.
Our organization’s efforts are based on common sense. Our work shows that Nashville is behind even our own sister cities in Tennessee in protecting trees. We don’t seek to advance laws that limit what folks can do with trees around their own homes, we seek to keep in check those with speculative interests, many of whom don’t live in our county or even in Tennessee. These developers are not your neighbors, they are businesses that simply want to do the bare minimum to manufacture a neighborhood as fast as possible. Regulations are made to protect residents from unscrupulous development. Having laws and programs that regulate tree removal in mass and reduce safety risks on steep slopes are imperative. Many other cities in Tennessee already understand this, and it’s time that Nashville catches up on tree removal regulation.
Our Canopy Is At Risk
Clearcutting trees has significant consequences for our city. Nashville has outstanding tree canopy cover in the northwest and southwest quadrants of the county. Large tracts of land in these areas are being purchased by subdivision speculators, and if huge swaths of trees are removed from these tracts, our city will see significant increases in flooding issues, our air quality will plummet, our water quality will degrade, and the wildness that exemplifies Nashville’s identity will further diminish. We must pass common sense tree mitigation policies to preserve Nashville’s identity and retain these benefits we can’t afford to lose.
Protecting trees is about the welfare of people and property. Laws and regulations are directly influenced by residents, and Nashvillians can contribute to this cause by voicing their concern about indiscriminate, large-scale removal of trees across Metro Nashville. Join the Nashville Tree Conservation Corps or follow our updates on social media and this website as we explore new and better ways to protect our invaluable tree canopy. Most importantly, EMAIL YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES and let them know you’ve had enough of watching trees fall in our city.