The City of Bradford is intentional about its trees.
According to re-established city code, “It shall be the responsibility of the Tree Board to study, investigate, counsel and develop and/or update annually and administer a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, along streets and in other public areas. Such plan will be presented annually to the City Council and, upon its acceptance and approval, shall constitute the Official Comprehensive City Tree Plan for the City of Bradford, Pennsylvania.”
See?
The Bradford City Tree Board’s volunteer president is Ron Binder, a professor of mathematics retired from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
“I’ve been planting trees for decades,” Binder explained. “I think they add a lot to the community.
“They contribute to economic development, cool things down and make people want to hang around. There’s not a whole lot of downside to a tree.”
Binder approached City Administrator Chris Lucco in 2022 about his interest in planting trees around Bradford and the city’s Tree Board, which had existed for many years, was re-established.
Binder explained Scott Sjolander with the Penn State Cooperative Extension was a significant help to the board in its effort to secure just the right trees for the city.
“Scott was a great help to us, gave us a lot of good advice about what trees were indigenous to Pennsylvania and how to get a grant.
“We were fortunate to get hooked up with TreePennsylvania, in its third year of granting trees,” Binder explained.
TreePennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Urban and Community Forestry Council, is a statewide nonprofit organization “dedicated to nurturing forests throughout Pennsylvania’s urban landscape,” according to its website.
Bradford was one of 50 cities across the commonwealth to receive the full grant of 20 trees for planting within the city limits. Binder said the Tree Board got to hand pick its complement of trees, selecting all hardwoods.
“That means they’ll be around for the next 30, 40, 50 years,” Binder said. “They’ll be about 10 to 15 feet tall.” They were also, Binder said, completely free, on the condition that the city plants and takes care of them.
He explained several older, decaying trees had recently been removed from Callahan Park, making the space a good choice for the new saplings. He said Chip Comilla, Bradford City Department of Public Works’ Parks Facilities director, “laid it all out, showing where the park needed the trees.”
“We’re very grateful to Chip and his staff,” Binder said on behalf of the Tree Board, which includes Department of Property Maintenance Inspector Travis Crawford and city councilman Fred Proper.
Graham’s Greenhouse & Landscaping donated a truckload of mulch for Pitt-Bradford students to spend time spreading Tuesday afternoon.
Binder added the grant makes Bradford automatically eligible to receive as many as 20 more trees next fall.
“We have a couple places in mind — the park on High Street (off Rochester Street), we’re going to check with the Housing Authority and, down the road, we’d like to offer memorial trees.
“You know the old saying about trees?” Binder asked. “‘You’re planting trees you’ll never get to sit under,’” he paraphrased, “but that’s not why we plant them.”
