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Monday, June 23, 1997

Brownsville's Green Division cited for saving trees

By HEIDI HOLLAND / The Brownsville Herald

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Stepping off the plane, Canadian David Ivory looked around and wondered if he could make Brownsville his home.

"This is not aesthetically pleasing. I'm not sure if this is where I want to move or not," Ivory said about his first impression of the area about three years ago.

But, with a second look around and a passion for trees, Ivory's outlook began to change.

"I saw the birds, I saw the attributes (of) the resacas, I thought there was a real natural beauty to Brownsville," said Ivory, who holds a bachelor of arts in horticulture and business from Guelph University in Canada.

Decked out in a T-shirt, jeans and hiking boots, the horticulturist now works every day to bring out Brownsville's natural beauty.

"All the features were there, if we could just add to them and bring them out of our city," he said.

A former tree care professional in Los Angeles, Ivory saw the potential for beautifying the city by saving and enhancing its trees.

"I'm a tree expert," Ivory said.

From his start as master composter for Brownsville, Ivory jumped at the city's offer to head up a Green Division to save and maintain trees and contribute to the city's composting efforts.

The department, which began in August 1996, recently sought and won a reforestation award from the Texas Forestry Service, beating out cities such as San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Corpus Christi.

"It was the category that was there and we went for the jugular and we got it," Ivory said. "It's a real big feather in our hat."

Brownsville won the award because of its commitment to trees, based on the Green Division's creation.

What seems like common sense - one department caring for the watering, trimming, pruning and transporting of trees - is an anomaly in the state. Brownsville's Green Division is the first.

Elsewhere, the tradition is to have one department plant, another maintain, another prune, and another transport. This makes community projects - especially those focusing on saving trees - more difficult.

"In many, many cities our experience is public works departments often view trees as an impediment to infrastructure," said Pete Smith, urban forestry grants administrator for the Texas Forestry Service. "That's a big philosophical change."

Although his passion is trees, Ivory runs the department like a business.

"I truly believe in a day's work for a day's pay," he said. "We're not a sleepy division, we're in the trenches."

Ivory is at work at 7 a.m., planning how he and his men will rescue, water, transport and save the most trees. He takes pride in how fast his men can respond to emergency calls on his tree-saving hotline.

"Our response time is 15 minutes," he said.

A tree spade, a large heavy piece of machinery which digs 5-by-7 foot holes in the ground, allows large trees to be excavated and transported to selected areas of the city.

If a caller says the tree is in the way, but wants to keep it, a $75 fee is charged for transporting; but, Ivory said the same service is free if the tree is donated to the city.

So far, the division has saved at least 50 trees valued at more than $100,000.

"It's an enormous job," he said. In addition to saving trees, Ivory's responsibilities include equipment maintenance, instructing composting classes, checking for water, sewer and utility lines under trees, and maintaining the city's curbs and right-of-ways, the islands of grass and trees in some of the city's streets.

"I'm the facilitator, the warm body that makes this division turn," he said.

Ivory believes the department is the city's best, long-term hope for beautification.

If enough trees are saved, transported and cared for, Brownsville may become recognized as a city of trees - a goal Ivory is determined to achieve.

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