A sequoia forest in Detroit? Plantings to improve air quality and mark Earth Day
DETROIT (AP) — Arborists are turning vacant land on Detroit's eastside into a small urban forest, not of elms, oaks and red maples indigenous to the city but giant sequoias, the world's largest trees that can live for thousands of years.
The project on four lots will not only replace long-standing blight with majestic trees, but could also improve air quality and help preserve the trees that are native to California's Sierra Nevada, where they are threatened by ever-hotter wildfires.
Detroit is the pilot city for the Giant Sequoia Filter Forest. The nonprofit Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is donating dozens of sequoia saplings that will be planted by staff and volunteers from Arboretum Detroit, another nonprofit, to mark Earth Day on April 22.
Co-founder David Milarch says Archangel also plans to plant sequoias in Los Angeles, Oakland, California, and London.
What are giant sequoias?
The massive conifers can grow to more than 300 feet (90 meters) tall with a more than 30-foot (9-meter) circumference at the base. They can live for more than 3,000 years.
'Here's a tree that is bigger than your house when it's mature, taller than your buildings, and lives longer than you can comprehend,' said Andrew 'Birch' Kemp, Arboretum Detroit's executive director.
The sequoias will eventually provide a full canopy that protects everything beneath, he said.
'It may be sad to call these .5- and 1-acre treescapes forests,' Kemp said. 'We are expanding on this and shading our neighborhood in the only way possible, planting lots of trees.'
Giant sequoias are resilient against disease and insects, and are usually well-adapted to fire. Thick bark protects their trunks and their canopies tend to be too high for flames to reach. But climate change is making the big trees more vulnerable to wildfires out West, Kemp said.
'The fires are getting so hot that its even threatening them,' he said.
Descendants of Stagg and Waterfall
Archangel, based in Copemish, Michigan, preserves the genetics of old-growth trees for research and reforestation.
The sequoia saplings destined for Detroit are clones of two giants known as Stagg — the world's fifth-largest tree — and Waterfall, of the Alder Creek grove, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
In 2010, Archangel began gathering cones and climbers scaled high into the trees to gather new-growth clippings from which they were able to develop and grow saplings.
A decade later, a wildfire burned through the grove. Waterfall was destroyed but Stagg survived. They will both live on in the Motor City.
Why Detroit?
Sequoias need space, and metropolitan Detroit has plenty of it.
In the 1950s, 1.8 million people called Detroit home, but the city's population has since shrunk to about one-third of that number. Tens of thousands of homes were left empty and neglected.
While the city has demolished at least 24,000 vacant structures since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2014, thousands of empty lots remain. Kemp estimates that only about 10-15% of the original houses remain in the neighborhood where the sequoias will grow.
'There's not another urban area I know of that has the kind of potential that we do to reforest,' he said. 'We could all live in shady, fresh air beauty. It's like no reason we can't be the greenest city in the world.'
Within the last decade, 11 sequoias were planted on vacant lots owned by Arboretum Detroit and nine others were planted on private properties around the neighborhood. Each now reaches 12 to 15 feet (3.6 to 4.5 meters) tall. Arboretum Detroit has another 200 in its nursery. Kemp believes the trees will thrive in Detroit.
'They're safer here ... we don't have wildfires like (California). The soil stays pretty moist, even in the summer,' he said. 'They like to have that winter irrigation, so when the snow melts they can get a good drink.'
How will the sequoias impact Detroit?
Caring for the sequoias will fall to future generations, so Milarch has instigated what he calls 'tree school' to teach Detroit's youth how and why to look after the new trees.
'We empower our kids to teach them how to do this and give them the materials and the way to do this themselves,' Milarch said. 'They take ownership. They grow them in the classrooms and plant them around the schools. They know we're in environmental trouble.'
Some of them may never have even walked in a forest, Kemp said.
'How can we expect children who have never seen a forest to care about deforestation on the other side of the world?' Kemp said. 'It is our responsibility to offer them their birthright.'
City residents are exposed to extreme air pollution and have high rates of asthma. The Detroit sequoias will grow near a heavily industrial area, a former incinerator and two interstates, he said.
Kemp's nonprofit has already planted about 650 trees — comprising around 80 species — in some 40 lots in the area. But he believes the sequoias will have the greatest impact.
'Because these trees grow so fast, so large and they're evergreen they'll do amazing work filtering the air here,' Kemp said. 'We live in pretty much a pollution hot spot. We're trying to combat that. We're trying to breathe clean air. We're trying to create shade. We're trying to soak up the stormwater, and I think sequoias — among all the trees we plant — may be the strongest, best candidates for that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Vatican unveils last of restored Raphael Rooms after 10-year cleaning that yielded new discoveries
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican Museums on Thursday unveiled the last and most important of the restored Raphael Rooms, the spectacularly frescoed reception rooms of the Apostolic Palace that in some ways rival the Sistine Chapel as the peak of high Renaissance artistry. A decadelong project to clean and restore the largest of the four Raphael Rooms uncovered a novel mural painting technique that the superstar Renaissance painter and architect began but never completed. Raphael used oil paint directly on the wall, and arranged a grid of nails embedded in the walls to hold in place the resin surface onto which he painted. Vatican Museums officials recounted the discoveries in inaugurating the hall, known as the Room of Constantine, after the last scaffolding came down. The reception room, which was painted by Raphael and his students starting in the first quarter-century of the 1500s, is dedicated to the fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine, whose embrace of Christianity helped spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire. 'With this restoration, we rewrite a part of the history of art,' Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta said. Pope Julius II summoned the young Raphael Sanzio from Florence to Rome in 1508 to decorate a new private apartment for himself in the Apostolic Palace, giving the then-25-year-old a major commission at the height of his artistic output. Even at the time, there were reports that Raphael had wanted to decorate the rooms not with frescoes but with oil paint directly on the wall, to give the images greater brilliance. The 10-year restoration of the Room of Constantine proved those reports correct, said Fabio Piacentini, one of the chief restorers. Vatican technicians discovered that two female figures on opposite corners of the hall, Justice and Courtesy, were actually oil-on-wall paintings, not frescoes in which paint is applied to wet plaster. They were therefore clearly the work of Raphael himself, he said. But Raphael died on April 6, 1520, at the age of 37, and before the hall could be completed. The rest of the paintings in the room were frescoes completed by his students who couldn't master the oil technique Raphael had used, Jatta said. During the cleaning, restorers discovered that Raphael had clearly intended to do more with oil paints: Under the plaster frescoes, they found a series of metal nails they believed had been drilled into the wall to hold in place the natural resin surface that Raphael had intended to paint on, Piacentini said. 'From a historical and critical point of view, and also technical, it was truly a discovery,' he said. 'The technique used and planned by Raphael was truly experimental for the time, and has never been found in any other mural made with oil paint.' The final part of the restoration of the room was the ceiling, painted by Tommaso Laureti and featuring a remarkable example of Renaissance perspective with his fresco of a fake tapestry 'Triumph of Christianity over Paganism.' The Raphael Rooms were never fully closed off to the public during their long restoration, but they are now free of scaffolding for the many visitors flocking to the Vatican Museums for the 2025 Jubilee. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Fusion between culture and modernity as children dance in Kenya's refugee camp
KALOBEYEI, Kenya (AP) — Beads of sweat drip from the faces of young girls and boys as they dance to the rhythm of traditional drums and open calabashes, while their peers watch them in awe. These are refugee children, some who were born in one of Africa's largest camps — Kakuma, located in northern Kenya, where more than 300,000 refugees' livelihoods have been affected by funding cuts that have halved monthly food rations. The children use the Acholi traditional dance as a distraction from hunger and have perfected a survival skill to skip lunches as they stretch their monthly food rations that are currently at 30% of the U.N nutritional recommendation per person. The Acholi people, mostly from Uganda and South Sudan, are among refugees who live in Kakuma camp , which was established in 1992 as a safe haven for people fleeing conflict from dozens of east African countries. For a moment, the melodious sound of one of the refugee mothers stops the playground buzz of activity as dozens of children sit down to enjoy the traditional dance performance. The colorful swings doting the community center at Kakuma's Kalobeyei Refugee Settlement were donated by a Swiss organization, Terre des hommes, which still manages the playground aptly named 'Furaha' — Swahili for Happiness. But the happiness of these children isn't guaranteed now as funding cuts have affected operations here. Less resources and fewer staff are available to engage the children and ensure their safety. One of the dancers, Gladis Amwony, has lived in Kakuma for 8 years now. In recent years, she has started taking part in the Acholi traditional dances to keep her Ugandan roots alive. The now 20-year-old doesn't imagine ever going back to Uganda and has no recollection of life in her home village. 'I'm happiest when I dance, I feel connected to my ancestors,' the soft-spoken Amwony says after her dance session. While Amwony and her friends are looking for a cultural connection, just about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from their village in neighboring Kalobeyei Village 3, some boys are in touch with modernity. The five boys have been practicing a one-of-a-kind dance where they mimic robots, complete with face masks that hide their human faces. They make their sharp synchronized moves that they have been perfecting for months. The boys will be part of performances that will be showcased during this year's World Refugee Day, as an example of the talent and resilience that exists among the refugee community. This younger generation of dancers make precision moves in a small hall with play and learning items stored in a cabinet that is branded with an American flag, an indication that it was donated by the U.S government. Such donations are now scarce, with the United States having cut down on funding in March. These cuts have affected operations here, with the future stardom hopes for these children dimming by the day. The center, which previously featured daily programs such as taekwondo and ballet, may not be operational in a few months if the funding landscape remains as is. 'We are now reducing some of the activities because we are few. The staff are few and even per day we only have one staff remaining in the center and it is really hard for him/her to conduct 500 children,' said John Papa, a community officer for Terre des hommes in Kalobeyei Village 3. These programs do more than entertain the children — they keep them away from issues such as child labor, abuse and crime which as a major concern for humanitarian organizations in Kakuma. And as the children dance and play beneath the sweltering sun, the only hope is that these child friendly spaces remain operational for years. ___ For more on Africa and development: The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
Hamilton Spectator
12 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Who was Olga, the Alaska Native drawing devotion as Orthodoxy's new saint?
KWETHLUK, Alaska (AP) — 'St. Olga of Kwethluk, Matushka of All Alaska,' as she is officially known, was canonized on June 19 as the first female Orthodox saint from North America. Orthodoxy — the world's second-largest Christian communion — gained a foothold in the present-day United States with the 18th and 19th century arrival of Russian Orthodox missionaries to what was then the czarist territory of Alaska. While the Orthodox are a small minority within the Christian population in the state and the nation, Alaska is often considered a holy land for the now-independent Orthodox Church in America. Who is St. Olga of Kwethluk? Olga Michael was born in 1916 in Kwethluk, where she resided her entire life with her Yup'ik family and neighbors. The Yup'ik, like the Tlingit, Inupiat and Aleuts, are broadly called Alaska Natives. The town's name is derived from the Yup'ik term for 'dangerous river.' Her Yup'ik name was Arrsamquq; she was confirmed in the church under the name Olga. Like other villagers, her life followed the seasonal rhythms of subsistence living, preparing food at 'fish camps' for preservation and making clothing from animal skins. She married Nicolai Michael, who became an Orthodox priest. They had 13 children, five of whom died in childhood, a tragically familiar occurrence at a time when epidemics were common. Matushka, from the Russian for mother, is a term of respect for Orthodox priest's wives. 'Matushka Olga' fulfilled that role of spiritual mother — counseling women who had suffered abuse or griefs such as miscarriage — and she was widely admired for her compassion and piety, often providing other people with food and handmade clothing. Matushka Olga was also a midwife, delivering many children. And when she died of cancer on Nov. 8, 1979, villagers reported that unseasonably warm weather thawed the river ice, enabling people to travel by boat from other villages to her funeral, according to an official church biography. What does her family say? 'She was the most prominent adult in my life,' recalled Wiz Ruppert, who was raised in Matushka Olga's home from about three to 13, when her grandmother died. 'Without her, I think my life would have been so different.' Like other family members, Ruppert recalls Olga never raising her voice. 'If I had a hard time waking up, she would nudge me, and if I didn't wake up, she would gently carry me to a chair where breakfast was ready,' Ruppert recalled. She recalled the fresh bread her grandmother would make, how she patiently taught her how to prepare freshly caught fish, how she would sew fur boots with sealskin soles for others in the community. 'Those are really hard to work on,' Ruppert recalled. 'I would watch her chew the soles so they would be soft enough to sew.' How did devotion to St. Olga grow? After her death, devotion to Matushka Olga spread beyond Alaska to Orthodox faithful in distant states and countries. She's often depicted in unofficial icons framed by northern lights, with the words, 'God can create great beauty from complete desolation.' People began to report encounters with Matushka Olga in sacred dreams and visions, according to the church. One poignant account of a woman who had suffered childhood sexual abuse describes a profoundly healing experience during a prayerful encounter with Olga. In 2023, the groundswell of devotion eventually prompted the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America to approve her 'glorification' as a saint. What happens next? Kwethluk, with a population of about 800 and accessible only by boat or small plane, now anticipates receiving pilgrims. The Diocese of Alaska is in the early stages of working with the village on plans and fundraising for a new church, hospitality center and cultural center. 'We have gotten some pilgrims already, although not in force yet, but we expect them to come regularly after this summer,' said the Rev. Martin Nicolai, a retired priest attached to St. Nicholas Church. 'People who venerate her as a saint will want to come and pray beside her relics.' How are saints formally recognized? Orthodox have a similar process to Catholics in determining saints. It begins with grassroots devotion. Eventually petitions reach the highest authority — in Orthodoxy, a synod of bishops; in Catholicism, the pope — to make the determination. Sainthood becomes official with a service of canonization or glorification. There are multiple Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States and internationally. They generally recognize each other's saints. Why is Alaska considered an Orthodox holy land? Several Orthodox monks and martyrs with ties to Alaska are already recognized as saints by the Orthodox Church in America, the now-independent offspring of the Russian Orthodox Church. Pilgrims come to Alaska to venerate their relics at their shrines. St. Olga is the third with Alaska Native heritage recognized by the Orthodox Church in America, following the 19th century St. Peter the Aleut and St. Yakov Netsvetov of Alaska, who was of Aleut and Russian heritage. Most of the state's Orthodox priests, serving about 80 parishes, are Alaska Natives. More than a dozen priests have come from Kwethluk. How are Orthodox churches organized? Eastern Orthodox churches trace their roots to the beginning of Christianity. Several are self-governing, with their leaders considered equals, and they share beliefs and sacraments while cooperating in charitable and other activities. In the United States, organizational lines are rooted in the national backgrounds of various ethnic groups, such as the Orthodox Church in America (with roots in Russian Orthodoxy) and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. But many U.S. churches now have members of varied ancestries, and cooperate through the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
