On May 31, 2021, SWIM's Vi Patek sent out an email to SWIM members announcing that Nahant had become a Tree City U.S.A., with a formal announcement at a Board of Selectmen meeting and a press release in the Lynn Daily Item to follow. A requirement of this designation is the formation of a Tree Task Force for the management of public trees which is described in Nahant's new Tree by-law shown below. The Tree Task Force is already at work serving Department of Public Works' Superintendent Zach Taylor in his efforts to manage Public Shade Trees and the future of our community forest. The first duty will be to inventory all trees on public lands, and good progress has already been made. The leader of the Task Force is Wendy Wornham. The four other members are Tom Price, George MacNaughton, Sharon Hawkes and Kristy Lee. This is a big step forward in the preservation, restoration and management of our town trees.
From the November 2021 SWIM Newsletter:
...... [Our] urban forest is declining rapidly due to age and disease. New trees need to be planted and through SWIM, twelve trees have been planted: six pine trees on East Point at Lodge Park on May 2, and six out of ten Arborvitae at the Town compost dump on October 19. ... As part of our Plant a Tree Program, SWIM has pledged gifts to the Town for the planting of trees annually. Trees are good for our health. They cool us with their shade and calm us with their beauty. They clean our air and water. Let's plant trees!
The new Nahant By-Law - Creation of a Nahant Tree Task Forces states:
There is hereby created and established a Nahant Tree Task Force which shall consist of five volunteer residents who will be named by the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works to serve him for the purpose of developing and/or updating annually an inventory of all Public Shade Trees along with a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, along streets and in other public areas. This written plan shall be presented every year to the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works and to the Tree Warden for their convenience.