The City Government has planted many specimens of Fraximus pennsylvanica around on the sidewalks.

These trees have a thirty to fifty-year lifespan, according to Wikipedia. They appear to be between ten and thirty years old, in general. They have beautiful "helicopter" seeds which actually twirl around on their way down. These trees have a lifespan of maybe forty to ten years left.

 

The City will have to deal with two issues, as these trees begin to die out. Actually, three. So far. First, what to do with the dead trees? I recommend: Harvest them. Harvest the wood, and make a lot of benches. One or two trees could probably make hundreds of sheets of paper. Do they make inks? Fruits? Let's find out! The trees are native to North America.

 

Second: There will be hundreds of spaces opening up as the trees are harvested. What to put in these new spaces? Okay, this leads us to the third issue.

 

Third, either (a) re-establishing the populations of Fraximus pennsylvanica, or, (b) planting new, additional species. The new species should be limited to (in order of general importance): (1) being native or non-invasive to the region, (2) ability to survive in the region (a given for natives, but climate change will require experimenting with other climates), (3) useful in some way: providing tools, fruits, foods, shelters, wood, firewood, wood products, inks, dyes, playgrounds, and so on.

 

I have attached a photograph of Fraximus pennsylvanica from Google images.