tree city usa

Some observant visitors catch a glimpse of the small sign as they enter Sevier County. You pass it on the right as you leave I-40 at exit #407. It is not a big flashy sign like so many of the others that dot highway 66 for the next twenty miles.

Most drivers are staring out the window in the opposite direction where Blalock & Sons Co. is leveling a 200 acre mountain. All the trees have been removed from this property and it sticks out like a sore thumb. This eyesore at our front door speaks volumes about the small sign on the opposite side of the highway.

The small sign may be dated and its days may be numbered. You see, the small sign reads "Welcome to Sevierville, A Tree City USA." The other day, as I passed the denuded hill on the left side of the road, I passed that small sign and it got me thinking.

As I drove along I wondered if Sevierville still deserved to be classified as a "tree city?" Just what does it mean to be called a tree city? I looked it up and there are 4 Standards that a city must comply with to be called a tree city.

1. The city must have a tree board. It can be made up of volunteers. We qualify there.

2. The city must have a tree ordinance. We qualify there too, but the rules say nothing about actually enforcing any ordinances.

3. The city must spend $2 per capita on trees & maintenance. We qualify there too because we can count clearing and all the Fall leaf pickup work in those expenses.

4. The city must promote Arbor Day. We qualify there too as Sevierville has the sign and places a small annual ad in the paper about Arbor Day. That's it; Sevierville is a tree City.

I noticed a small blurb on the Arbor Day Foundation website about the group American Forests. I clicked on it and read an article by Gary Moll, VP of the Urban Forestry Center. He says that "our cities are currently paying a high price for the reduction of tree canopy.

As trees are lost, so too are the environmental and economic benefits they provide relative to reducing stormwater runoff, air pollution, and energy usage.

The latest GIS data shows that the national urban tree deficit is growing and many cities are becoming cities of sidewalks and parking lots." I drove past the 200 acre denuded site of the new shopping mall and thought about the loss of tree cover in Sevier County over the past few years. How many hundreds of acres have been lost to development? Nobody really knows but it is no small number.

Our County Commission and our Planning Commission are dominated by developers; there are certainly no Tree City advocates on the commission(s). The unwritten but clear message in Sevier County is "leave no developer behind." I drive down Highway 66 a little farther and see the new bridge going over to an island near the new "Events Center." Hundreds of acres were cleared of all vegetation for this events center and related developments; most of this land will eventually be paved.

This new bridge leads to an island in the river surrounded by the golf  course. The golf course is expanding and the island will be home to a new hole for golfers. Of course, all the trees will have to go first. What makes this development particularly offensive is that these trees house a "rookery" (nesting site) for Great Blue Herons.

These huge old trees are teeming with nests that will all be destroyed in the next few weeks - just to add one hole for visiting golfers. This development scene is repeated many times around the county and is coming to a forest near you soon.

Does this sound like how a tree city should operate? It seems a little odd to me. One day the taxpayers will get the bill for all this haphazard and uncontrolled growth and be shocked, but what will make it much worse is when we wake up and realize that we have lost the natural beauty of our mountains and forests.

The clearing and mountain removal going on at exit 407 is a rude welcome to Sevier County and the small sign across the highway is showing its age. It's sad that no one seems to care anymore.

Where have all our leaders gone? Tree City, indeed.