Tornado recovery has been fitful in the Pioneer Valley. Some areas are still marred with rubble, while in other neighborhoods the Tyvek HomeWrap is long gone and the new shingles are already beginning to blend in with their more weathered neighbors.
But there’s one after-effect which still jolts the eye and scars the landscape pretty much everywhere: The plowed over trees and fallen branches that mark the tornado’s path of destruction.
In this corner of Massachusetts – where even urban Springfield has many neighborhoods dotted with hundred-year old shade trees and small towns like Monson and Brimfield are hemmed in by dense pine forests – the destruction of the forests may be the longest lasting impact of the storm.
More than 13,000 trees were destroyed on public land alone. A recent study by the U.S. Forest Service of the effect of tree destruction on the East Forest Park neighborhood in Springfield said that shade cover decreased from about 44 percent of land to less than 1 percent in the tornado-affected area, raising daytime temperatures an average of 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (2-4 degree Fahrenheit) in the tornado-afflicted portion of the neighborhood.
But if Stephen Roberts has anything to do with it, the heat won’t be on for long.
‘Planting-Tree Mode’
When Roberts, principal at Springfield-based Stephen A. Roberts Landscape Architecture and Construction, saw the storm clouds, practically his first thought was “we’re gonna need trees,” he said.
He launched his “Re-Tree the Community” program immediately after the storm, ordering trees from suppliers to be ready for fall tree-planting season. Though trees can be planted any time so long as the ground isn’t frozen, it’s best to plant them before they begin their annual spring growth spurt to ensure a healthy transplant, Roberts explained.
His goal, he said, is to plant 1,000 trees in the tornado afflicted areas between fall 2011 and fall 2012.
Slow to get off the ground, Robert’s tree planting scheme got a big boost when he hooked up with the Realtor Association of the Pioneer Valley.
“Through our Pioneer Valley Charitable fund, we had helped over 20 individual agents and their families who were directly affected by the tornado,” explained Brian Sears, president-elect of the association. “But we had funds left over – and that’s when we decided to get involved in the tree-planting.”
A recent event sponsored by the group helped plant 150 trees in Springfield neighborhoods, including East Forest Park.
“The insurance covers the house – but it doesn’t replant trees,” Sears said. “It doesn’t even usually pay to take down the trees – unless they’ve fallen on the house.”
And with many homeowners still wading through insurance claims and dealing with other costs of the tornado, help with replacing trees can be a big weight off someone’s mind.
Roberts says he’s about halfway to his goal at this point.
“Over a two- or three-week period, we just went into planting-tree mode,” he said.
He’s reaching out to TD Bank and said he is hopeful more sponsorship will spur another wave of planting this fall.
Roberts isn’t alone in his efforts. The city of Springfield has been active in replanting trees on city land, and the town of Monson had its own tree-planting ceremony earlier this month.
But even with all the energy, it will take decades for the forest to be restored.
“It takes three or four years of seasonal growth for [saplings] to start to feel like a tree,” Roberts said. “But you’re talking 10, 20, 30 years for these plantings to turn into a real shade tree.”
