Trees PLEASE 2022-2023
Trees PLEASE was a program that planted trees on school campuses, in parks and other community shared spaces. Involved students and volunteers received hands-on education in the field, as well as an optional classroom workshop component for students. This project is important because it exposes children to potential land management careers by educating and involving them in the planting process, adding beauty to the landscape, providing shade, reducing greenhouse gases (GHG), lowering energy consumption & more!
Funding for this project has been provided through California ReLeaf and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Urban and Community Forestry Program with funds made available through the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018.
Over the course of two years, we planted 255 shade trees throughout Butte County, Glenn County and Tehama County. We planted trees in 13 schools, 10 parks and 2 community shared spaces. We engaged over 1,000 community members throughout the course of Trees PLEASE, and worked with over 30 different community partners.
Rosedale students, BEC staff, Miranda Kokoszka, and volunteers posing with a tree they planted on May 10, 2022.
Urban Forest Revitalization Project 2020-2022
There were a total of 4 community tree planting events that were held in the two-year span, plus an arbor day planting at a local elementary school and a community tree delivery day (without planting) in May 2020. Out of those 6 events, there were more than 150 volunteers who spent their free time giving back to the community and delivered and/or planted nearly 150 trees in Chico neighborhoods. Additionally, almost every Wednesday from Spring 2021 through Spring 2022, except during the peak heat of summer months, a handfull of regular volunteers plant 3-6 trees for residents and in park strips (street trees). These volunteers have put at least 100 more trees into the ground in Chico. Because of these volunteers and the efforts of the staff and interns of Bute Environmental Council, there are even more trees in the City of Trees and we help the City of Chico reach their project goal of 700 trees several months ahead of schedule!
Having these trees planted in targeted neighborhoods will help the world and their neighborhoods. Trees bring shade to houses and sidewalks. With shade on your house residents are spending less money on electricity to cool down their houses. Trees bring wildlife habitats so they can live and grow. Trees also reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
BEC volunteers with a tree they planted in a Chico residents front yard.
Chico’s urban canopy increased by 700 trees between 2020-2022.
Another piece to the Urban Forest program was the Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP). The UFMP is a way for the community to tell us about the trees in Chico. Residents took a survey that provided the environmental consulting firm Dudek feedback on anything related to trees in Chico. The surveys will go towards helping guide the city and tree care professionals to proactively and effectively manage the trees. Stay tuned as the Chico UFMP first draft nears completion and goes up for public comment soon!
The Urban Forest Revitalization Project aimed to increase the health of the City of Chico's Urban Forest and therefore amplify the benefits we receive from a thriving urban canopy. Chico's urban forest is a unique and precious feature of town that we get to enjoy and benefit from over many generations. There are over 35,000 trees in neighborhoods and municipal areas, but there are still over 6,000 vacant tree sites in the city without a tree! The benefits they provide include: reduction of overall CO2 emissions, conservation of water, lessen soil erosion, shade and mitigation of energy costs, and increase in wildlife and plant diversity.
Funding for the Urban Forest Program was made possible by CAL FIRE. BEC teamed up with The City of Chico, California Climate Investments and Arbor Day Foundation to successfully execute this program! Many thanks to Richie Bamlet, the City’s Urban Forest Manager, as well as Chico’s Public Works department for this contract and successful partnership. We look forward to continuing our work with the City, and in planting more trees as BEC expands our own tree planting programs into 2023.
The Importance of a Healthy Urban Forest
The City of Chico Urban Forest Management Plan
“Chico’s Urban Forest is made up of trees, landscapes and other vegetation within the City’s parks, along the streets and creeks, and within private property. The urban forest provides an essential character to the City that includes aesthetic values, functional benefits and ecosystem services to its citizens both individually and as a whole. The elements of the urban forest exist throughout the community, although their care is under several jurisdictions, including both private and governmental entities.”
A Fantastic Resource on the Benefits of Urban Trees
The burning of fossil fuels for energy and large scale forest fires such as in the tropics are major contributors to the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Managing and protecting forests and planting new trees reduces CO2 levels by storing carbon in their roots and trunk and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. The loss of trees in our urban areas not only intensifies the urban "heat-island" effect from loss of shade and evaporation, but we lose a principal absorber of carbon dioxide and trapper of other air pollutants as well.
Get to Know Chico's Iconic "Avenues" Street Trees
"The City of Chico is renowned for its trees. They create a sense of place and character for Chico’s residents and visitors. The Avenues Neighborhood is home to a great diversity of prominent and historic trees, including one of the greatest tree promenades in the world – The Esplanade. Rich, deep soils and resident’s pride in their neighborhood landscape have led to a large population of healthy, vigorous trees, many of which are City ‘street’ trees. Many of the trees selected for this tour represent common tree species in Chico. Some species on this tour are no longer approved for planting as street trees, though their presence holds historic value."
The Urban Forest Revitalization Project was put into action in spring 2020 and ran through spring 2022. The program goals were to expand the urban canopy in Chico by planting trees in target neighborhoods that were lacking shade as an effort to increase the health of the urban forest and therefore amplify the benefits we receive from a thriving urban canopy.