BUTTE — Whether you have a green thumb or not, officials in Butte are looking for volunteers to help plant trees in Uptown. They say it not only enhances the community but gives you a sense of pride.
“If they want to come help plant a tree, they can drive by it in a year or so and say, ‘I planted that tree right there.’ I can do that with a couple of them. I planted that one over there,” said Mainstreet Uptown Director George Everett.
Mainstreet Uptown is organizing an event in May to plant about 200 trees in Butte with a focus on Butte’s gateway streets to Uptown. They hope to eventually plant 1,000 trees throughout Uptown over the next five years.
“I love it, I would just love to see Butte have the kind of urban canopy it deserves with trees everywhere,” said Everett.
Some people believe more trees in Butte’s Uptown would be a good thing.
“It kind of enhances the Uptown, that's for sure, makes it look like a tree city, which we’re kind of supposed to be a tree city,” said Chuck Roth.
While it’s understood trees are visually pleasing, they also say having a tree in front of your business has an economic advantage too.
“They actually have a formula that they used to say if you have a tree in front of your commercial enterprise it can increase business by 18 percent, because people will feel comfortable, they’ll want to stop in,” said Everett.
The planting is expected to begin the third week of May and Mainstreet Uptown will provide more details as the event gets closer.
