City of Salem Announces Tree Fund

Mayor Kim Driscoll has announced that the City of Salem is now raising donations to help support the cost of replacing trees damaged or lost in the storm of October 17th.

Those who would like to donate can send their check, make the check payable to “City of Salem” with “Tree Fund” on the memo line to:

Treasurer’s Office
City of Salem
98 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01970

The City is setting up an online donation option, as well, which will be made available at www.salem.com/trees as soon as it is live.

Initial estimates from the City Tree Warden are that approximately 50 City trees were lost in the storm. Based on that and the estimated cost to purchase and install a new tree, the City is hoping to raise $30,000 to replace the trees destroyed by the storm. Some of the lost trees include the iconic willow trees at Salem Willows Park, however other trees of a wide variety of species were knocked down by the storm across the City. All donations are fully tax-deductible.

Funds raised will be supplemented by City dollars already appropriated to plant an additional 40 trees around the City that had been planned for through the City’s regular seasonal tree planting program.

“Salem has been designated a ‘Tree City USA’ by the Arbor Day Foundation since 2001 and we place a high priority on maintaining and managing our public trees,” said Mayor Driscoll. “Two years ago, we completed a public tree inventory along all of our streets. Last year we planted hundreds of new trees, using that inventory as a guide. While the regular work of planting and maintaining our thousands of public trees must continue to move forward, the devastating storm of October 17^th means we have an additional 50 trees to replace. I hope every Salem resident who is able will consider making a donation of any amount to the Tree Fund so we can replant and keep our City green.”