Why does Newburgh need more trees and people to take care of them?

Trees provide essential environmental, economic, social, and public health benefits.

Yet the City of Newburgh has lost nearly 4,000 trees in recent decades, not including blocks that never had, but desperately need trees.

Join the Conservancy in caring for the trees we have now and planting new trees for future generations. Help ensure we have the beauty, shade, cooler & safer streets, oxygen, biodiversity & habitat, and stormwater mitigation benefits that trees provide.

Sign up for our Tree Care Corps!

Newburgh Tree Survey

The Conservancy and the EJ Fellows have been working to gather input from City of Newburgh residents. Make your voice heard and let us know what you think!

We’re compiling information on concerns residents have about trees, who wants trees and why, and who’s willing to help care for them. With this data, we make recommendations to the Conservation Advisory Council on key blocks where trees are needed and where 6-8 homeowners, renters and business owners are committed to caring for trees.

Take Our Survey!

WHAT BENEFITS DO TREES PROVIDE?

— Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
— Trees remove ozone, pollution and particulate matter from the air.
— Trees serve as food and shelter for other lifeforms (animals, fungus and other plants)
— Trees help retain stormwater, reduce flooding and prevent pollution from entering groundwater, streams and rivers.
— The environmental benefits of trees are directly related to tree size. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and water from the environment. Because this process takes place in a tree’s leaves and branches, the benefits increase as a tree grows in size. So it is in everyone’s interest to help trees grow and thrive!
— Trees filter the air and reduce pollutants in the air that trigger respiratory ailments such as asthma.
— Trees shade playgrounds, sidewalks, and parks, encouraging physical activity and overall fitness.
— Trees are aesthetically pleasing—beautifying our neighborhoods and streets.
— Trees can help to reduce crime.
— Trees enhance our emotional and mental health.
— Trees can even encourage drivers to slow down.
— Trees reduce the need for air conditioning in the summer by shading buildings.
— Trees help cool down the City of Newburgh
— Trees reduce the need for heat in the winter by serving as windbreaks.
According to the City’s Tree Inventory, Newburgh’s street trees bring the City an annual economic benefit value of over $500,000.
Greenhouse Gas Benefits by CO2 absorption: $4267.76
Water Benefits by preventing flooding and runoff : $42,390.66
Energy Benefits from shading and cooling: $208,445.08
Air Quality Benefits by producing oxygen: $31,089.04
Property Benefits from beautification: $222,083.22
TOTAL: $508,275.76
Trees also help to raise property values and to discourage redlining practices that harm black and brown neighborhoods in many ways, such as higher-than-market mortgage rates that put homeownership out of reach.