SEPTEMBER 2025: PORTLAND PARTNERSHIP | SIGN UP TO PLANT WITH US!

NEIGHBORHOOD PLANTINGS IN PORTLAND THIS SEASON

Friends of Trees is partnering with Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry to plant trees in priority neighborhoods.

We’re excited to announce that this planting season, Friends of Trees and Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry are launching a new partnership to plant and care for 750 trees across Portland’s most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods.

Over the next three years, Friends of Trees and our volunteer community will plant, water, and care for 750 street and yard trees, with a focus on neighborhoods in North and East Portland that have less canopy and greater exposure to heat risks. All trees will be free to recipients.

“Friends of Trees is excited to work with Portland Urban Forestry to bring people together to protect and grow the canopy. It’s about more than planting. It’s about centering community in the process, creating connections between people and the trees.”

-Yashar Vasef, Executive Director at Friends of Trees

Friends of Trees has maintained an active presence in Portland since our onset in 1989, with different partnership iterations with the City of Portland and others. For example, Portland Urban Forestry is part of an 11-member coalition led by Friends of Trees that was awarded a $12 million Urban and Community Forestry Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“With this revitalized partnership, we’re prioritizing post-planting care to make sure these trees survive and thrive for the community’s benefit,” Yashar says. Every street tree planted through this partnership will receive three years of follow-up care. This includes watering, monitoring, and replacement if needed. Yard tree recipients will receive guidance and support to help care for their trees.

Visit our website for more details, including all the neighborhoods we’re planting in and how to volunteer!

FEEL GOOD. DO GOOD. PLANT TREES.

Join us for our 37th season — Our planting calendar is live!

Every year, thousands of volunteers come together to plant trees at a Friends of Trees event. Together, we’ve planted a million trees and native plants since 1989. Out of the millions of reasons people come out, one stands out: it feels good.

It feels good to get outside, meet new people, and work together to make your neighborhood a greener place, full of trees and native plants that fight climate change, cool our homes, clean our air and water, and so much more. Come do good with us starting in October!

We hope you’ll join us! Check our planting calendar to find an event!

WE’RE STILL LOOKING FOR CREW LEADERS!

Registration is open for Fall Crew Leader Training! Our crew leaders are the folks that really make our planting events work, leading crews of planting volunteers, making sure everyone has fun and plants properly. We’re looking for folks to lead crews at neighborhood or natural area plantings, so follow the path that suits you!

Learn more and sign up here

THE EUGENE BRANCH

A note from Eugene Director Erik Burke as he enters his 25th planting season!

The planting season in Eugene and Springfield is almost here, and if you ask me what I’m looking forward to the most, it’s simple: I’m just really looking forward to planting with volunteers. We’ve built up a great core of volunteers, and I know that I’ll get to meet cool new people, too.

I started with Eugene Tree Foundation in 2001—we were a little more ragtag then— and we officially became the Friends of Trees Eugene Branch in 2011. That means this will be my 25th season. Regardless of whether or not I’m feeling the years, I still get really happy on planting days, and I even find myself floating for a few hours afterwards.

I was talking with my teammate Taylor recently about how we used to do our bike plantings without any e-bikes. You’d inevitably take the wrong route and find yourself face to face with a huge hill. Maybe not that huge, but when you’re towing a trailer full of trees and shovels, any hill is huge. Taylor pointed out that in situations like that, our volunteers always rally around the spirit of “we can do it!”

I’m really looking forward to the joy, gratitude, and appreciation I find at planting events. Tree planting brings together people who care, and we’re so lucky to live in a community that cares so deeply about nature.

If you’re excited as I am, or if you’re looking to be a part of something special, I hope you’ll join us at an event in Eugene or Springfield this season. Our calendar is live! Read more here.

CARS FOR CANOPY

Did you know you can donate your car to Friends of Trees?

Got a clunker you’ve been meaning to get rid of? You can donate almost anything with a motor to Friends of Trees! You’ll receive a tax deduction for your generosity while helping create a greener, healthier planet for years to come. Visit CARS today and be free of your vehicle tomorrow. Vehicle pick-ups can be arranged in any U.S. state.

Learn more about this and other ways to donate here.

GET A TREE | DONATE | VOLUNTEER

The #FriendsofTreesWay is planting trees—and so much more!

(503) 282-8846: Portland office

(541) 632-3683: Eugene office

friendsoftrees.org

friendsoftrees.org/eugene

Learn more about how Friends of Trees greens our region + grows community through checking out other issues of Treemail here https://friendsoftrees.org/news-resources/treemail.