What’s The Deal With Lafayette’s Tree Canopy?

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Lauren Mitchell, Staff Writer

Recently, some biology classes did a project that brought to our attention that Lafayette has the second least amount of trees of Fayette County schools. We have known about this for a while; it’s nothing new. Lexinton had its tree canopy analyzed several years ago. The 2012 report by Davey Resource Group revealed that 25% of land inside the city limits was covered by trees. This is far less than the national average of 27% and the recommended national level of 40% of land coverage.

Luckily, to try and fix the lack of tree canopy, Lafayette planted 75 trees on our campus for Lafayette’s 50th anniversary in 2015. Although it helped, they were small trees and didn’t give us much more canopy.

Part of the reason behind having such a low percentage of trees is our large campus. It’s hard to have a large canopy of trees without overcrowding the campus and obstructing roads. Also, Lafayette lacks the green space to accommodate large trees.

Hopefully, the 75 trees added a few years ago will go a long way in helping Lexington meet the 40% land coverage level.