History
Chamber of Commerce and the Green Team
The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s involvement in area beautification dates back to the early 70’s when they organized the Area Beautification Committee under the leadership of Ruth Holmberg. The committee was responsible for organizing most of the tree canopy that was planted in the downtown area along Market, Cherry and Broad Streets.
In the 1980’s and 90’s the Area Beautification committee was expanded to include representatives from the Scenic Cities Beautiful Commission, State of Tennessee, City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County and individual citizens who were committed to beautification efforts in the community.
Inspired by the belief that Chattanooga was the best mid sized city in America, if not, the most beautiful, citizen activist Dr. John Huckaba and then mayor Gene Roberts formed the Chamber of Commerce Gateway Committee in the early 90’s to provide landscape enhancements to the “gateways of Chattanooga.” Huckaba’s Green Team of volunteers transformed acres of shamefully drab intersections into proud landscapes. These areas included the Highway 27/ML King interchange, Highway 27/4th Street interchange, Highway 27/US 24 split, I24/Browns Ferry Interchange and I24/Moccasin Bend, among others. The committee was recognized with the Lady Bird Johnson Award for Roadside Beautification from the National Arbor Day Foundation in 1993.
The Gateway committee received grants from the State of Tennessee, the Benwood and Lyndhurst Foundations and many other organizations and individuals. The committee raised over $1 million over a seven year period and planted over 10,000 trees and thousands flowers and shrubs throughout the Chattanooga area.
The leaders and volunteers of the Chamber of Commerce and Green Team deserve great recognition for their hard work in the beautitication of the city. Their legacy continues, to this day, to set a strong precedent and clear vision for future tree planting efforts within the city.
Take Root
In the fall of 2007, members of Leadership Chattanooga partnered with the city’s Urban Forester, the Chattanooga Tree Commission, and the Art Department of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga looking for ways to make an impact on Chattanooga’s urban environmental health. Together, they poured over studies, consulted their neighbors and surveyed Chattanooga’s existing tree population, particularly small in the urban core.
Designated as the “Take Root Zone,” this urban core became a canvas for an ambitious project. Launched in March of 2008 with one goal—to double the percentage of tree canopy cover in the urban core—Take Root set out to honor a city with much to celebrate. Take Root plants trees, for Chattanoogans, in Chattanooga.
Over the course of three years the next three, Take Root committed to plant more than 1400 trees. Chattanooga’s Urban Forestry Department has identified the planting sites for these trees, and to date, Take Root has achieved its initial goal by planted over 1400 trees in downtown Chattanooga. Generous support from residents, foundations and local businesses has made the expansion of Chattanooga’s urban forest possible. The movement to make Chattanooga a greener city continues through their help.
Citizen Forester
While Take Root embraced and succeeded in the ambitious goal of doubling the tree canopy in Chattanooga’s urban core, the partners involved in the project, Leadership Chattanooga, Chattanooga’s Urban Forestry Division, and CreateHere, want to maintain the upwelling of civic pride and momentum for positive environmental change initiated by Take Root over four years ago. After the great success of Take Root, we think residents of Chattanooga are ready for Citizen Forester, an initiative that will empower Chattanooga residents to invest in the livelihood of their neighborhoods.
Citizen Forester embraces the same core values as Take Root, civic pride, education, and environmental stewardship. The program represents an opportunity for Chattanooga residents to get involved in the process of tree planting and to stay involved in that process through tree care and advocacy. After Citizen Forester training, residents will receive a voucher for free trees and make a commitment to plant and care for the trees in their neighborhoods. With each new tree in the ground, Chattanooga becomes a healthier, safer place.