Wow What a Year!

Wow, what a year! 

Be careful what you wish for.

In case you have not been able to get out to any workdays, birdwalks, or just a visit, we’d like to update you on what’s been happening in the Arb. This has been a fantastic and busy year for the tree people of Poletown. We hired our first employee: Robyn. We planted hundreds of trees across two projects. We pushed about 70% through our Circle Forest project. We broke ground on the newest project: Oxygen Alley. Oh, and we began meetings and planning sessions for the Poletown East Green Loop with East Ferry Warren Community Association and Detroit Future City. The Green Loop is an off-street walking path that connects all the arboretum spaces to other green projects throughout the neighborhood. It’s really been an amazing time to be working with trees and Detroit’s abundant green space.

Hiring Robyn has brought lots of mirth, laughs, and new eyes to the arb. It has been a joy to watch her fall in love with trees and get to know all their names. She dates them, not by when they were born. She takes them on dates. Well, they don’t go far, but they have a good time. Robyn has been integral to facilitating workdays and general park maintenance. She is so happy to be working outdoors and has even moved into the neighborhood from about a mile away. Sometimes I think she’s mostly here to tree-jay because she is always bestowing her vast musical knowledge and supreme taste upon the trees and volunteers. More Robyn in the new year, please.

We planted so many trees in the Spring of 2022 that it was difficult to keep track, and keep them watered in this drought of a Summer. Earth Day saw 50 trees added to Circle Forest and 50 trees to Treetroit One in its expansion. Because we had to expand Treetroit One right? Not enough to do yet. It was a lot getting all these trees into the ground and we vowed never to do two Earth Day plantings in a row. But by Fall we were inventing yet another Earth Day so we could go harder: we coined October 23rd as “Other Earth Day.” Like many of you, we have always thought it so ironic and sad, really, that we celebrate Earth one day each year. What? We like to celebrate every day. So we are trying to give everyone more chances to celebrate with us. So, Other Earth Day just calls the Spring holiday’s minimalism into question and allows us to do something about it. Other Earth Day, because there is no other Earth.

Circle Forest has been a busy place for the land. She is adjusting to her new / not new plants and trees. That is, we are introducing many natives that have probably not been here in at least a couple hundred years. This is a big deal. We have now planted over 100 native trees including White Pine, White Spruce, White Cedar, Black Gum, Paper Birch, Eastern Red Cedar, Red Maple, White and Red Oak, Paw Paw, Redbud, Elderberry, Serviceberry, Nannyberry and more. We recently planted 150 native perennials that were donated by our dedicated volunteer, Michelle, and moved from Wayne State University. Circle Forest is full of diversity and life. We really feel like we are helping the land express herself and be her best. There has been so much remediation of the land in this project that we all feel the burden of abuse and neglect being lifted. The birds feel it too. Our super-volunteer and birdman, Kyle, has identified 85 different species visiting the forest. The ADA compliant gravel paths are laid and the accessible boardwalk and deck are built and stunning. Thanks to Mike Williams or St. Aubin Woodworks and his team for the craftsmanship. Thanks of course to AARP, who funded this feature. We have named it the Barb Rennie Walk & Roll. This name honors a beloved Poletown resident who transitioned about 20 years ago. Barb would love to see all the energy and life being pumped into this neighborhood, as well as the access that would allow her to cruise around in her sporty wheelchair. 

Of course we had to start another project while still building Circle Forest. Oxygen Alley is something we have been dreaming up for a few years and is finally becoming a reality. This is a 4 lot project, one of which runs almost 400 feet all the way through the middle of the block between Kirby and Frederick. It is an oxygen maker, a shade maker, a storm soaker, an enhanced habitat, a boulder scape, and a celebration of our strong environmental justice practice. This project celebrates the closing of the Detroit trash incinerator, which released its odors and poisons directly onto this neighborhood for 30 years. Residents fought this monster from the time it was built, and eventually defeated it with the help of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and others. This park celebrates clean air and oxygen equity. So far the project is being supported by a donation from the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center in celebration of this victory for the Earth and Detroiters, as well as grants from DTE for trees, and Wayne Metro and the City of Detroit with the awarding of a Neighborhood Beautification Grant for the project. Most of us didn’t even realize that there was a landfill right in our backyard. Once we dug in and began cleaning up the forested section of the Alley we realized that there has been a layer of trash between one and four feet thick throughout. It was a sad realization, but all the sweeter once it was cleaned up. We had dozens of volunteers come out on two occasions to fill a 20 yard dumpster and then another complete dump truck. The highlight was when we realized the scale of the dumping and recognized that we would need the bobcat. Of course it's 2022 so you don’t text Paul, you send a child to find him and relay the message, “we need help, come to Oxygen Alley with the bobcat. Oh the cinematic relief we all felt when Finn came running back with Paul following on the bobcat. Side note: this is a site so quintessentially Farnsworth. We could not do any of these projects without Paul riding in on the bobcat in the 11th hour. Likewise none of these projects would be happening here if Paul had not given us the example 25 and 30 years ago by planting his orchard in the face of the incinerator, and bailing hay on all this vacant land. This work is a tradition that goes back at least to the 1980’s, but really more like thousands of years when you consider that it is just getting our relations with the Earth right. We have the examples of the people who lived here first and we let them be our inspiration and the reasons we set our goals so high.

Synergy, culmination, momentum. We are so delighted that there has been such inspiration around all these projects. People seem to be feeling the work and jumping into it. These projects are clearly ours with a capital O. Much of this would not be possible without the support of our partner Detroit Future City. From awarding us a Working With Lots Grant in 2019 to build the Neighborhood Tree Nursery, to partnering with us in the Circle Forest project in 2020 (still ongoing), through their support in the Green Loop, DFC has helped amplify our work. It is so energizing to be recognized and supported. This goes for everyone who comes out and gets excited about what we are doing in the neighborhood, from the volunteer who comes out every chance she gets, to the dude who sits on the bench and watches the trees grow. This is especially true for DFC who keeps fanning the flames, bringing oxygen to our fire, Oxygen to our Alley. This idea of connecting all the green spaces is one that goes back to the inception of the Arboretum. We envisioned a walking, running, skiing path that connects all the neighborhood greenspaces. So some nut with a driving mower just started clearing a path for neighbors to walk their dogs and get to the bird park. People started using these paths instantly and have gotten very used to the luxury of walking off-street. What a relief to not have to think about and avoid speeding cars. What a joy to walk in nature close to the trees. What a blessing to stumble upon a new bench just when you’re tired or saw a bird you want to look at through your binoculars. All these things are what make the Green Loop such a great idea. When we started mowing the path we called it a “winding park.” Now that we are actually in the planning stages of formalizing the path we have been calling it the Green Loop. DFC is supporting us in reaching out to the community to discuss what this could look like, and find potential funding for benches, ADA paths and other amenities. The Green Loop is the next big thing for East Poletown. This is the stitching that will hold these quilt pieces together. This is a model that we hope will spread to other neighborhoods. If Detroit has nothing else it has enough open spaces in our neighborhoods so that everyone can walk in nature and sit in a little forest at the end of the block. Let Detroit lead the way in tree equity and demonstrate how essential living with trees is.