Dear Cooper-Grant Neighbors,

This is an announcement email regarding 2 Tree related projects coming to Cooper-Grant in the next week or so of January.

1. Street Tree Inventory Project in Cooper-Grant

On Monday January 16th 2017 (8am-12pm)  Cooper-Grant is partnering with Rutgers-Camden MLK Jr Day of Service Project Volunteers and the NJ Tree Foundation to do a street tree inventory in Cooper-Grant. This is part 2 of a tree project we started in August 2016 to inventory and map the various attributes of the street trees in our community. We are meeting at 8am in the Rutgers-Camden main Multiple Purpose Room in the student center for a light breakfast and an opening by Chancellor Haddon and then heading to the WWAC at 9am for a brief overview of Cooper-Grant/Camden City and the effect of trees on a community and quality of life. From 9:30-11am we will be walking the Cooper-Grant streets collecting information on our street tree inventory. From 11am-12pm we will meet back at 67 Penn St to input the data collected and finish up.

We are looking for a few volunteers from Cooper-Grant to help out in meeting with and working alongside a group of 20-some volunteers from Rutgers-Camden (mostly students) to walk the neighborhood and collection and input information related to our trees in Cooper-Grant.
The goal of this project is to build the foundation to develop a street tree application that will be available for all of Camden residents to crowdsource the collection of data for Camden street tree inventory including, type, variety, health, GPS location, circumference, hazards, size picture to help us better manage our tree canopy in the city.
If you are interested in volunteering please email me at president@coopergrant.org

2. Professional Tree Pruning in Cooper-Grant

With the support of a grant from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, the City of Camden has hired the NJ Tree Foundation (a state-wide non-profit that's been in Camden for 15 years) to prune our young street trees. Young street trees are trees that have been in the ground for less than 10 years or stand less than 20' tall.

What kind of pruning? This is NOT tree-topping. Topping trees is detrimental to trees. This is pruning for the health and well-being of your trees long-term. The NJ Tree Foundation will remove dead, broken, diseased, and/or dangerous branches from your young street trees. They may also limb-up trees that have low branches that block visibility or access (this process is known as "crown-raising"). All work will be done by the NJ Tree Foundation's trained staff, and all pruning cuts will be done properly.

Please note: all pruning will be done by hand, on the ground. No bucket trucks or chainsaws will be used.

How will I know if they pruned my tree? The NJ Tree Foundation will leave a notice on your door after your tree(s) have been pruned. If you have any questions, please call their organization and ask for Jessica Franzini at (856) 287-4488.

Did you know? The City of Camden has a state-approved Community Forestry Management Plan and an active Shade Tree Advisory Board! This city-wide pruning project supports the goals of Camden's Forest Management Plan by helping to keep your street trees in the best condition possible. If you want to get involved with the Camden Shade Tree Advisory Board, we meet Monthly in City Council Chambers 4th Wednesday of each month 7-8pm.

Thank you for your time and have a great day,
Jonathan Latko
President
Cooper Grant Neighborhood Association
www.coopergrant.org