Shade Tree Committee: Get out the shovels

BATH - Bath's Shade Tree Committee is appealing to area merchants in an effort to protect downtown trees from salt poisoning during winter months. Some trees are showing symptoms of salt injury, according to Lee Cornaire, spokesperson for the committee.

When snow and ice clog sidewalks in the central business district, the Shade Tree Committee recommends "liberal use of the snow shovel."

If conditions are truly icy, the committee recommends spreading warm sand across the sidewalk. Sand "provides an abrasive against slippery sidewalks when it's too cold for salt to work," according to the committee.

There also are chemical substitutes for salt - calcium chloride and calcium magnesium, for example - although the committee

has no enthusiasm to recommend substitutes at this time."

If merchants are forced to sprinkle salt, the committee asks that the material be kept away from trees.