Cape Ann just became more climate resistant (and beautiful!) thanks to our local climate hero Nathan Ives. On Friday April 9, 2021, Nathan Ives and his Project Elm team received and began planting 100 disease-resistant elm trees in Rockport and Gloucester.

It is a grassroots community project intending to help restore elm trees to their once prominent place on Gloucester and Rockport streetscapes while taking a proactive step to help reverse global climate change (trees capture carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, out of the air and store the carbon in their trunk. CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are driving climate change.) The project is inspired by the World Economic Forum’s 1-trillion tree initiative.

Project Elm is a grassroots community project intending to help restore elm trees to their once prominent place on Gloucester (and Rockport) streetscapes while taking a proactive step to help reverse global climate change. Scientists tell us that one of the best ways to fight climate change is to plant more trees–1 trillion trees, in fact. Sadly, the onset of Dutch Elm Disease in the 1950s brought an abrupt end to elms in the United States until only recently. Scientists have now developed disease resistant cultivars of the elm tree that are thriving in the US and, in particular, in New England.

In total, $5600 was raised to support Project Elm’s vision and mission! In addition to Awesome Rockport, the following groups and people contributed money to help make this happen:• Awesome Gloucester • Allison Mueller• Sal Zerilli• Rick Doucette• Neptune’s Harvest• We’re All in This Together