Charlotte Tree Canopy Action Summit meets

Charlottes tree-planting goals and proposed state legislation that could undermine local tree ordinances were focuses of the third annual tree canopy summit on Monday.

Hosted by the public-private collaborative partnership TreesCharlotte, the meeting at Freedom Park drew representatives of 30 organizations.

In its first two years, TreesCharlotte has planted about 11,000trees through partnership with schools, the Charlotte Housing Authority and other entities. Its goal is to plant 15,000 trees a year, all paid for with private money.

Charlotte City Council, noting a decline in the leafy cover, has set its own goal: a tree canopy over 50 percent of the citys area by 2050. The canopy is now at 47 percent, according to a 2012 analysis, but has shown no net decline since 2008.

What were really trying to do is build community with such goals, City Manager Ron Carlee told the group. We want to build a place where people will want to live.

The canopy goal is ambitious because development will continue to take some trees, and aging trees will die. One percent of the citys tree canopy equals 100,000 trees.

A bill that is expected to come before legislators this year, meanwhile, has drawn attention from tree lovers.

A draft of the bill bans local ordinances that regulate the removal, replacement and preservation of trees on private property and would prohibit local tree ordinances such as Charlottes.

Legislators cited Charlottes $4,700 fine of a church in 2011 for improperly trimming crape myrtle trees as evidence of overreach by local regulators.

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Charlotte Tree Canopy Action Summit meets