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In honor of Earth Day, a global movement to take action to protect the environment, I write today about how you can take action locally, by bringing attention to the natural environment and something everyone can relate to ôôֱ²¥” trees.

Rockford is known as the Forest City and has a long history valuing its trees.

When settlers first arrived, 28% of Winnebago County had tree cover and since then the trees have been valued for their utility and beauty.

Haight Village, Rockfordôôֱ²¥™s first residential neighborhood embraced the existing trees, many of which are still alive to this day.

More:Looking for a way to celebrate Earth Day? The Rockford area has several events

Visionary leaders beginning with Robert Hall Tinker promoted saving and cultivating trees in parks and gardens.

The communityôôֱ²¥™s keystone park: Sinnissippi was designed by O.C. Simonds, a foremost landscape architect of the time, who embraced the rich native trees of the region.

William Lincoln Taylor, a notorious plantsman and tree lover left teaching landscape architecture at the University of Illinois to practice in Rockford and started the Rockford Nurseries which is now Klehm Arboretum.

More than one hundred years ago, Winnebago County set up its first Forest Preserve (Hononegah) and that legacy has expanded, along with the Rockford Park District, to provide an inordinate amount of public open space for people to connect with nature where trees thrive and grow.

Trees are visceral to a healthy community and study after study supports the positive health and wellness impact they have on residents.

All that green improves mental health, brings in nature to our doorstep, warms us in winter and cools us in summer, improves property values, sequesters carbon and mitigates climate, absorbs stormwater runoff, cleanses the air ôôֱ²¥” so whatôôֱ²¥™s not to love?

Beginning in the 1970ôôֱ²¥™s, the Dutch elm disease epidemic killed off a lot of the urban street tree forest.

More recently and still underway, the invasive emerald ash borer is killing off the ash trees which were often used to replace the elms; together with extremes of weather that include wind sheers, derechos, polar vortexes and summer droughts, Rockfordôôֱ²¥™s tree cover has taken a substantive loss. (The loss documented as more significant without replacement in disadvantaged neighborhoods where it benefits the most.)

The stalwart champion and historic trees that have withstood all this and remain today need our love.

The time is now to recognize the surviving wealth of trees in our region and using that legacy to continue our heritage of trees.

Letôôֱ²¥™s bring back the Forest City and re-shade our streets, homes and businesses across the entire community.

A good way to do this is by nominating a tree for its size, historical or cultural significance through NLIôôֱ²¥™s Legacy Tree Program (https://www.naturalland.org/nlis-legacy-tree-program-january/).

Iôôֱ²¥™m glad the Natural Land Institute is taking the charge to identify, register and tell the stories of the regionôôֱ²¥™s trees (one tree a month will be highlighted on our website and social media) so that Rockford will remain the Forest City in a region that embraces the importance of its trees and forest cover.

These in turn will be used as seed sources for new special legacy trees to pass out or sold to the community ôôֱ²¥” fingers crossed that the City of Rockford gets a grant to help with this.

Will you join us in nominating a significant tree in your neighborhood or community or helping measure and researching history on nominated trees?

Trees leave a lasting beneficial legacy in our community, and the best time to plant one was a long time ago ôôֱ²¥” the next best time is now.

Alan Branhagen is author of three books about native plants of the Midwest and butterflies, and is the executive director of Natural Land Institute, Rockford, Illinois.