THE LEAFLET

For the past several months Casey Trees has been working behind the scenes to help advance the Tree Canopy Protection Amendment Act of 2015 — perhaps the most important piece of environmental legislation to come before the D.C. Council in more than a decade.

We thought we’d take a moment to update you on our efforts and let you know what’s next for the legislation.

Testimony

On October 2, Casey Trees staff, Tree Advocates and community members provided testimony to the Committee on Transportation and the Environment in support of the bill with modifications proposed by Casey Trees.

Petition

To date, more than 500 concerned individuals have signed our petition addressed to the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser urging them pass the legislation with the four aforementioned revisions — and the more names the better.

It’s not too late to add your name in support. We will be delivering the petition at the end of this month so if you are a D.C. resident, please sign on in support so your elected officials know that you want to protect and grow D.C.’s urban forest.

What’s Next

The proposed legislation is still in front of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment. If the committee votes to approve the bill, it will then go before the entire D.C. Council which will then hold additional public hearings for community input. While it is still early in the legislative process, we hope the D.C. Council will take action in early 2016.

We will continue to update you on the legislation’s status and what you can do to help. In the interim, if you are interested in taking a greater role in growing our urban forest, register for our free, one-day advocacy workshop Stand Up For Trees on Saturday, January 30.