Community engagement is key to greening Eugene’s low canopy neighborhoods

The Eugene Tree Team is implementing a new community-driven process to add trees in the low-canopy neighborhoods of Bethel, Trainsong, and River Road in west Eugene: residents of these neighborhoods will directly reach out to their neighbors about the benefits of trees and how to plant one through Friends of Trees.

This new approach involves a variety of outreach methods to spread the word about getting trees. In addition to sharing information via local email lists and the neighborhood newsletter and Facebook page, neighborhood residents are going door to door. The goal is getting as many trees as possible in a 4 to 10 square block area of the neighborhood. Not only can this concentrated approach measurably grow the canopy, it will reduce the use of cars and trucks since walking and biking planting routes will be so easy to implement.

To prepare for planting day, City of Eugene representatives will accompany the neighborhood canvassers, marking the spots for street trees upon confirmation of a tree. And to help promote yard trees, Eugene Director Erik Burke will be available for yard tree consultation: when a resident expresses interest in a yard tree the canvasser will call Erik who will bike over for the consultation. An added bonus to this programming is that each planting event in these neighborhoods will also include tree walks.

Erik talks about the evolution of this strategy,

“This concentrated, neighborhood-based approach is part of our efforts toward greater environmental and climate justice in our programming. Not only is community involvement essential to achieving climate justice, adding trees to these neighborhoods is so important because the majority of industrial sites are in west Eugene, a low-canopy, low-income, diverse part of the city.”

Active Bethel Citizens play a key role in making this project happen, as do the City of Eugene, which is helping to fund the street trees, and EWEB, which is helping fund yard trees. Bethel businesses are encouraged to donate toward this project–and so are you! There is a $10,000 funding gap in this project, to help cover the costs of scholarship trees and tree watering services for tree recipients who need that help, contact the Eugene Tree Team to get involved or make your donation here. Thank you!

photo: Friends of Trees west Eugene planting event.