Planting trees for the Greening Research in Tacoma project

If a tree is planted with love and care, in the open space between sidewalk and street, outside of the home of its excited new caretaker, will it provide cooling canopy cover and deep roots to benefit soil structure?

Odds are, yes.

At least, that’s the hope of the Tacoma Tree Foundation. Through its Green Blocks program, the foundation planted 50 trees throughout the Tacoma mall neighborhood on Saturday, Nov. 5.

Homeowners who reside in the area bordered by I-5, South Tacoma Way, and South 56th Street could sign up for free trees from the Tacoma Tree Foundation to be planted in their right-of-way (the land between the sidewalk and street.) Courtney Johnson, planting coordinator with the foundation, said the partnership with homeowners was important in order to involve the community in the project, as well as ensure the longevity of the trees.

“We’re trying to empower the community to care for these trees,” Johnson said. 

Lana Hanford, center, plants the new tree with the help of Courtney Johnson, right. Source: Lauren Gallup/NWPB

Homeowners could choose from six different tree species, chosen to thrive in the area. 

The neighborhood is the focus of the Green Blocks program as it is one of the least forested areas in Tacoma. The program is connected to the Greening Research in Tacoma partnership, which is a project to understand how increasing greening — or more tree canopy — can impact human health.

The Tacoma mall neighborhood has 10% tree canopy cover, as opposed to the 20% average in Tacoma. Canopy cover, or lack of it, can have health consequences for residents. A 2020 grant-funded urban heat island analysis from Earth Economics found that three to fifteen lives are lost each year due to exacerbated temperatures from heat islands. South and Central Tacoma neighborhoods were found to be as much as fourteen degrees hotter than North Tacoma neighborhoods. 

Trees provide essential functions to urban neighborhoods, something volunteer Lana Hanford learned about when she took a tree steward training program through the foundation. 

“[Tree canopy cover] helps with shade. So it helps make it so that the neighborhoods are less hot, especially in the summer,” Hanford said. “And it also helps with, you know, stabilizing the soil itself and preventing excessive erosion or runoff when there are storms.”

The tree steward training program focused on equitable distribution of tree canopy throughout the city. The area where volunteers were planting on Saturday is one that has been impacted by historic discrimination policies and practices, such as redlining. 

Redlining was a historic and racist practice where the government pushed communities of color out of certain neighborhoods and into areas where services were withheld. These neighborhoods often were the first to face home demolition for interstate construction projects, or new development of polluting industries. This led to poor economic, education and health outcomes.

“We’re just trying to redistribute or actually, increase the tree canopy coverage in these places that have been affected by historical decisions like redlining and ended up in this place where the tree canopy cover was low,” Hanford said.

According to the Nature Conservancy, one of the Greening Research in Tacoma partners, the project could help inform the city’s urban forest strategies in the future.