November 14, 2023
Looking for the perfect gift for the environmental enthusiast in your life? Give them the gift of a greener Earth (and some cool merch) with TreePeople’s holiday gift guide!
For the one who has everything:
Tree Dedications are symbolic gifts that grow! Donations given through Tree Dedications support our mountain forest restoration and urban greening work throughout Southern California. There’s no better way to honor a loved one while creating lasting cha
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced that applications are being accepted for urban and community forestry projects through the federal Inflation Reduction Act funding opportunity. A total of $12.9 million is available.
The funding will “increase equitable access to healthy trees and green spaces in urban and community forests to support building a clean energy economy, advance environmental justice, and create economic opportunity,” a DEC press r
Climate change.
Environmental injustice.
Vulnerable communities.
Unprecedented catastrophes.
Threatened ecosystems.
The world is facing mounting challenges that are threatening our very survival — challenges that can feel overwhelming. These issues seem big because they are big. But we must remember that each individual act can make a difference. And when we work collectively, we have the power to clear any obstacle in our way. All we need is a starting point.
The easiest and m
One might assume everybody has access to trees, greenspace, and nature regardless of race, color, or creed.
But dig a little closer and another story emerges. Pull up any satellite map of most urban areas of the United States and it will yield a patchwork of green hues prominent in some locations, hard to find in others.
Too often, it’s people of color living in these neighborhoods with less access to greenspaces and nature. This nature disparity can have further dire consequences beyo
Planting 500 million trees in five years is a big job. For the Arbor Day Foundation, it wouldn’t be possible without a vast network of global tree planting organizations, our portfolio of individual and corporate supporters, and more than 50 years of know-how in creating impact with trees.
As we look ahead to the next 50 years, we’re continuing to innovate how we apply intelligent, data-informed strategy to our work. It starts with our goal to plant 90 percent of re
Submitted by Sarah Halonen on October 18, 2023
Supporting pollinators through native gardening is a climate action we can all get behind! Through a two-part workshop series led by Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla, LEAF volunteer garden stewards learned strategies to build more resilient pollinator gardens. Read more on how you can incorporate these approaches into growing your own pollinator garden.
In the face of climate change, many of us wonder what actions
TreePeople, a leading environmental nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a sustainable future for Southern California, celebrates the life and remarkable achievements of CEO Cindy Montañez who passed away on Saturday, October 21, 2023.
Since assuming her role in 2016, Montañez’s unwavering dedication, innovative vision, and commitment to environmental sustainability have driven TreePeople’s extraordinary growth and impact. Montañez leaves an indelible mark on the organization’s miss
October 18, 2023
Only feet away from Interstate 5–where hundreds of thousands of vehicles roll down the freeway every day–a team of TreePeople staff and volunteers assembled at Pacoima Middle School on Saturday, October 14th to bring dozens of new trees and much needed green space to the campus. As the temperatures soared to over 90 degrees, concrete was removed and shovels cracked through the dirt to plant a shadier, cooler future for the school’s students. It wasn’t long before a barri
Helping a community taking root in Upstate South Carolina
When you talk to the people of Upstate South Carolina, they talk about the area’s history. The history of mill towns that had to grow, innovate, and change as the textile industry moved out of town.
While certain areas found new ways to thrive, others haven’t always received the same amount of investment and opportunities.
In the ci
Explore the stunning photography that earned top honors in this year’s Forests in Focus photo contest. Read about how American Forests’ efforts to measure the carbon storage potential of forests are informing states’ management practices. And, take a look at a new mural in Houston, the first U.S. installment in a series that will draw attention to Tree Equity and the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
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Submitted by Justin Lewis on October 04, 2023
The arrival of fall marks a crucial period for our wildlife friends as they brace themselves for the upcoming winter. The tasks of securing food and seeking refuge, whether for hibernation or migration, are shared among mammals, birds and insects alike. Fortunately, native trees, shrubs, flowering plants and grasses stand ready to provide support so these creatures have all the essentials to endure the challenges of the cold season
Submitted by Jon Curtis on October 04, 2023
A healthy root system is essential for sustaining a healthy tree. Tree roots provide many important life-supporting benefits to trees such as absorbing much-needed water and minerals from the soil for food, storing essential nutrients and anchoring the tree to the ground. But did you know that in some scenarios, tree roots can also be a detriment to tree health? Continue reading to learn about girdling roots and how you can prevent them fro
Submitted by Jeremy Lewis on October 04, 2023
For one Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) tenant, caring for his local trees is a meaningful gift to give his community. Hear more from our friend and Urban Forest Champion, Jason Sinclair, as he discusses the connection of trees to the quality of life within his community.
As part of the TCHC Planting and Stewardship Program, LEAF supports tenants' efforts to take care of newly planted trees in their communities
How exactly can a tree be a solution to environmental injustice? Well, it depends.
Just as environmental injustices take a variety of forms, the role a tree plays in helping to correct these environmental challenges in our country’s most vulnerable neighborhoods can change from place to place, too.
Trees do so much for every neighborhood. They make our communities more vibrant, create connections between neighbors, and offer so many physical and mental benefits for every in
How the Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop provides invaluable experience
Tree climbing is a unique profession in many ways.
One of the most surprising aspects of the job is the ambiguous career and training path. Most climbers stumble into this field with no intention of pursuing (and potentially no knowledge of) tree climbing as a profession.
Unlike other skilled labor (e.g., carpentry, welding, plumbing), virtually no formal c
Did you miss our 2022 Virtual Conference? Here’s your chance to “rewind” and take advantage of some of these great sessions from the comfort of your home or office. ISA is excited to bring its members, credential holders and the community its new ISA Conference Rewind series.
Developed by ISA, the ISA Conference Rewind series will feature a new video each month over the next several months. The featured videos will consist of the most popular presentations from our 2022 Virtual Conferenc
The September 2023 Issue of Arboriculture & Urban Forestry is now online!
In this issue:
Why Is My Boxwood Orange? Factors That Influence Winter Color Change in Boxwood Foliage in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Examining Species Diversity and Urban Forest Resilience in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA) Metropolitan Area
Green Infrastructure with Actual Canopy Parameterization: A Simulation Study for Heat Stress Mitigation in a Hot-Humid Urban Environment
Read t
ISA offers a variety of educational materials and products to help arborists expand their professional knowledge and experience. Every month, we will feature a product or group of products. In September, ISA is featuring the Collection of CEU Articles on Plant Health Care Volume 2.
Written by specialists in the field, the Plant Health Care Volume 2 is a compilation of CEU articles previously published in Arborist News. The selected articles aim to improve arborists’ understanding of the int
Fall is here, and you have left your planting work a bit too late this year. Will you be able to dig into the soil to plant that new tree, and more importantly, will it survive? While colder temperatures may create some hesitation around fall planting, it is actually a great time to add new greenery to your yard. Read on as we tackle the top three myths associated with planting in the fall.
Myth #1: Spring is the best and only time to plant a new tree or shrub.
False! Whi
Food insecurity is a growing concern, especially with recent inflation trends and the impacts of adverse weather events on our food supply. The urban forest is home to many diverse edible plant species and can be leveraged to help increase availability and easy access to local food. Check out our top four most nutritious native shrubs that you can plant to grow food and our urban forest.
When a person has access to enough safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary
It started slowly. Just one lightning strike in a remote location — forests survive them every day.
Then another, and another, and another.
Before long, one of America’s most beloved national parks was consumed by flames.
It was June 1988, and Yellowstone was experiencing the beginnings of what would become the worst fire in the history of the park. A historically dry summer had set the stage for the destruction — and soon, 45 fires wer
In the days of coal mining, workers would take canaries down to the tunnels with them to detect carbon monoxide. Canaries would warn miners of the impending danger in their surroundings.
Some environmentalists say Northern spotted owls in the forests of the Pacific Northwest are like the canaries in the coal mines. As an indicator of forest health, the spotted owl population also serves as a warning signal for the condition of its environment.
But there’s
Gus Boston is one of those people who plans for the worst. When he enters a movie theater, he locates the exits. He sits in the emergency row on airplanes. He bought his northern California home in a location away from the high risk of wildfire. This mentality is part of what makes him so good at his job, and it’s most likely what has saved his life a time or two.
“We think we’re in control,” he says, “but we are not.”
Working for CalFire, Boston has been
