Cambridge Commission on Public Planting
Successes with early work at Fresh Pond Reservation led CP&GC members to more broadly about City green spaces. In the ’70s, two activist members proposed and established the Cambridge Committee on Public Planting, serving as the Committee’s first chairs, they advocated for a city arborist and a street-tree planting program and to advise and support the city in improving public planting. When the city’s first arborist was hired, the club was supportive by funding the Department of Public Works first water tank to facilitate tree watering, providing contributions for street trees, and supplying a hand-held computer (novel then!) for a street-tree census. Since the creation of the Committee in 1979, a succession of CP&GC members have contributed their time serving as members and chairs, and today the Committee has a diverse membership open to all interested Cambridge residents. The expertise of club members remains a significant resource as the City maintains existing public plantings and considers new ones.
