Trees are of vital importance in making Claremont a healthier, more livable, and beautiful city. In 2012, a group of citizens concluded that while the City was committed to “protect, improve and expand our urban forest,” as stated in the Sustainable City Plan, appropriate policies, practices, knowledge and communications resources were not yet in place to accomplish those goals. Thus the Tree Action Group (TAG) was formed.
The Tree Action Group had the following objectives:
- To Learn … To become more knowledgeable about trees, their planting, maintenance and importance to the local ecology, and to identify the best knowledge resources regarding these topics.
- To Educate … To develop educational programs and materials for Claremont residents, including homeowners, renters, leaders of businesses and institutions, teachers and children,
- To Organize … To identify other Claremont residents, community groups and institutions who care about the health of Claremont’s trees and provide opportunities for them to work together. To provide resources and support to residents throughout the City who are concerned about the trees in their neighborhoods.
- To Influence … To review the policies and practices of the City of Claremont and other organizations that maintain significant numbers of trees, and to engage in constructive dialog with these organizations in order to develop and implement better policies, practices and planning for the current and future health of our urban forest.
TAG worked to help the community understand of the importance of street trees, made it easier for residents to deep-water their trees, and developed species-specific guidelines for tree trimming. TAG took an active role in the citywide discussions in 2014-15 about revising the City’s Tree Policy Guidelines and worked with other groups as part of the Tree Coalition to provide information on taking care of trees.
The work of TAG led to the establishment of Sustainable Claremont’s Green Crew, which carries on the work initiated by TAG.