Finding Your 'Tree Champions' Through the Yard Tree Giveaway

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Urban Forestry is committed to covering 35% of Portland with a climate resilient tree canopy by year 2050. The CO₂ that trees remove from the air helps to flatten the curve of increasing heat around the planet. According to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Science, this matters because if CO₂ increases are not contained by 2050, mitigating rising temperatures will be extremely difficult. As annual temperatures increase, ecosystems and habitats will struggle mightily to sustain life as we know it. Locally in the Pacific Northwest, we are already seeing the stress of longer, hotter, drier seasons on native trees like the western redcedar.

This is why the trees that Urban Forestry plants across all of our planting programs are 70% large form, native, and evergreen. Large evergreens, especially conifers, carry a huge workload to stabilize our environments with the least amount of human labor. They photosynthesize year-round, and release moisture beneath their canopies in the summer, cooling everything around them. This means that the canopy Urban Forestry works to plant will be, as much as possible, low maintenance and long lived, while upholding our native habitat.

But, that's not the end of the story. Ecological survival depends on biodiversity, which enables adaptability! That's why Yard Tree Giveaway (YTG) trees species are so varied; over two dozen types are available every year. While Urban Forestry prefers to plant large form, native, evergreen trees in streets, school yards, and businesses, individual property owners can still select from a myriad of bio-diverse trees for their own properties. About 50% of the plantable surfaces in the City of Portland exist in private yards. Everyday homeowners can be the greatest agents of climate-adaptable, environmentally resilient preparation where they live - just by planting a free tree (or three). How so? Because the non-native tree species that YTG selects and distributes are strategically planned.

• They have to meet minimum height requirements to create a quality, extreme-heat shielding canopy.
• They must be demonstrated as resilient against pests and diseases.
• They're trees that are known to thrive in biomes slightly drier, hotter, with longer summers than ours (like in northern California).
• They're known to be low-maintenance trees.

may not be all PNW native trees, for example the ever-popular Japanese zelkova, Arizona blue cypress, or heritage river birch. But, when property owners select from the varied species of trees that are available through YTG, they help diversify Portland's urban forest, protect their neighborhoods, and contribute to a heat and drought resilient city. This way, no matter how Portland's climate shifts over the next decades, neighborhoods have the essential infrastructure to adapt. Here's a fun fact: Portland's trees planted by Urban Forestry have a 96% survival rate (see the "Tree Monitoring" tab), an enviable success for any city. We are on the right track.

If you own private property in Portland, there are only two questions left for you:

1. Have youregistered for your Yard Tree Giveaway tree(s)?
2. Of all our Portland's top-performing tree species, which is your favorite "champion"?

Cast your vote, and we'll announce the winner at the end of this year's Yard Tree Giveaway season!

Happy planting-season, Portland!