A Year of Trees

A Year of Trees is an idea where a whole city (in this case, the City of Beaverton) is challenged and encouraged to plant as many trees as possible, wherever we can, in one year. We could set a goal, such as one tree for every 10 people (about 10,000 trees). We keep count of the trees planted on public grounds, and community members can report the trees that they plant privately. At the end of the year, we celebrate how many trees we planted together! We can showcase the work we did as a community by creating a map of all the new trees in Beaverton, and documenting some estimates of how much good the trees will do over the next 10 to 20 years (shade provided, carbon captured, etc).

Inspiration

Beaverton, Oregon has a program called "One Book, One Beaverton" where all residents are encouraged to read the same book, attend discussions hosted by the library, have conversations with friends and family, and attend a talk by the author. I like the idea of having a common touchpoint that the community can share. For A Year of Trees, the evidence will be all around us.

Who's Involved?

The idea is for the City of Beaverton and other city-wide organizations to partner to host A Year of Trees. Examples include Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Department (THPRD), Beaverton School District, Washington County, and other public entities. The goal is to plant as many trees as possible in one calendar year. The city and other public entities work to identify places they can plant more trees on their lands. Ideally, we especially focus on areas that we don't have as many trees and are more susceptible to heat waves. Community members could help identify where street trees would be beneficial. Private property owners would be encouraged to find a place to plant a new tree (or maybe a few!). We could raise money from the community to help offset the cost. Anyone who plants a tree or helps buy one could be thanked with a small gift (perhaps a bumper sticker or something similar that says "I planted for/donated to A Year of Trees").

We could partner with an organization like Friends of Trees and Oregon State University Extension Services to provide affordable trees and planting help and information to community members. Local gardening groups could become a valuable knowledge resource. I don't know that much about what school programs exist, but it could be a great opportunity for middle and high schoolers to get volunteer hours. If there are ecology or climate groups or clubs that exist, they could become student champions of this type of work.

Public Property Tree Planting

Planting on public grounds could be done by parks and city staff, but they could (and should) also be performed by community volunteers. Some of the Beaverton Neighborhood Association Committees (NACs), particularly Highland, have been successful at organizing volunteer tree planting events. A Year of Trees would provide an opportunity for all the NACs and other groups to organize such events and engage their communities. By engaging the community, we foster a sense of shared ownership and care for the places we live, as well as pass on knowledge. If people volunteer multiple times, they could build the skills to lead these types of volunteer events later in A Year of Trees and beyond.

Private Property Tree Planting

We should encourage homeowners, landlords, and businesses to plant trees wherever possible on their property. We could build partnerships with local nurseries, Friends of Trees, and the OSU Extension Service to help people get or buy trees, as well as providing them with the expertise on how to plant and care for them. The city would provide a way for these community members to log how many trees they've posted and where; at the end of the year, we would use this information to create a map of all the trees planted.

Other Possible Partnerships

We could partner with both big and small businesses to help us. Businesses could sponsor tree plantings financially, find spaces to plant themselves, or help us with providing gifts for volunteers and those who donate. Large businesses could become "flagship" sponsors to provide funding and help us produce promotional content. Local businesses could have flyers or signs in their shops that publicize A Year of Trees, with a link to get involved.

Why A Year of Trees?

Everyone loves trees. Anyone who's been outside in the summer knows how important they are to making our community a pleasant place. As summers get hotter here, taking refuge in the shade of trees is becoming more and more important. However, finding the public and private time and resources to plant makes it easy to put off investing in more trees. By making tree planting a specific goal in our community for a full calendar year, it creates urgency to make it happen. I believe most people in the city would love to have more trees here; by committing to it as a goal that we will measure, we create the will to make it happen now rather than later. It also helps make our public institutions more visible and tangible; we will all see the benefits of this endeavor, and watch it grow over time. From a city logistics point of view, having a short-duration, concentrated effort allows them to budget and hire for positions that would be needed to support the project. It gives the city credibility when they say, "Beaverton prides itself on, and is dedicated to, its trees." It's also a simple idea - this is something that could be replicated in any city. They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. I want there to be a whole year of "todays" where we are planting together to make our city and world better, and to enjoy it in 20 years.