Tree huggers and tree haters take note: the city is growing the tree canopy. Better grab your rakes.

Not everybody loves trees, and Baltimore tree haters are legendary. They associate trees not with shade, better air quality or improved public health, but inexplicably, with rats, mice, insects, and other pests.

Local greening activists tell stories of sweet (and not-so-sweet) grandmas who become territorial when neighborhood do-gooders even mention planting a tree on the block, let alone in front of their house.

“If you plant it, I’ll burn it down!”

“Don’t do that. You’ll raise my taxes!”

And then there’s the leaves. Those messy leaves that fall to the ground this time of the year and bunch up around the front stoops and clog up storm drains.

The haters believe they have a right to a tree-free tree pit. In their mind it’s their personal property. And they’re convinced the city has to get their permission to plant a tree in front of their house.

But they are wrong.

Trees on the public right-of-way (e.g., sidewalks) are not optional, said Erik Dihle, Chief of Recreation and Park’s Urban Forestry Division and the city arborist.

And they probably never were.

“As far as I know, there was never a ‘permission-only’ policy on planting a tree in the public right of way. That’s a slippery slope,” Dihle said.

The city sees trees as a capital improvement, like a sidewalk or a streetlight. Rec and Parks currently maintains 125,000 street trees – 95 varieties – in the city.

The agency is interested in what residents have to say about trees in their community, Dihle said. “We want their buy-in. We want their support. But no. We don’t ask permission.”

The agency (and its various non profit tree-planting partners) make every effort to notify residents when trees will be planted on their block. They even hand out cards with Urban Forestry’s or the nonprofit’s contact information if neighbors have questions or concerns.

Dihle doesn’t know where the idea of trees being “optional” or opt-in came from, but he hazards a guess. “Residents know they can ask us for a tree,” he said. “Perhaps they assumed they had to ask. Like it was their choice.”

Grow the Canopy, Reduce the Heat Island

Like it or not, tree haters will have to get used to the idea of more trees in Baltimore.

The city is working toward a 40% tree canopy goal – the coverage recommended by conservation organization American Forests – by 2037.

According to Tree Baltimore, the umbrella organization of city and private agencies working to increase the city’s tree coverage, the canopy is about 24% and the city plants about 8,000 trees a year.

“We are moving toward the day when we want full-block tree plantings – not just a tree here, a tree there. We believe full-block plantings are one of the best ways to combat the heat-island effect,” Dihle said.

Heat islands are built-up urban areas that are hotter than nearby suburban or rural communities, sometimes by several degrees.

“Areas with low tree canopies tend to have higher utility bills,” Dihle said, adding that “the heat-island effect will only get worse with global warming.”

If Baltimore tree haters take matters into their own hands (say, with a handsaw or blowtorch), Dihle said he’s not sure they’ll face any fine or penalty – at least not right now.

But that could very well change. “We are considering proposing updating the city’s tree ordinances, and [a fine or penalty] could be a part of it,” he said.

“We really are trying to take better care of our trees.”