Portland Parks & Recreation’s (PP&R) Urban Forestry team is planting Free Street Trees now through March 2025 in key Portland neighborhoods with a noted need for more tree canopy. City contractors will install over 1,000 young trees in the rights-of-way, typically between sidewalks and roads. The plantings are targeted for locations where the deficit of tree cover has left communities most vulnerable to heat illness.
“Everyone, regardless of where we live, deserves safer, cleaner, healthier neighborhoods,” says PP&R Director Adena Long. “It’s a matter of public well-being. The Free Street Tree program is a step in the right direction.”
The priority neighborhoods for the current planting efforts include Kerns, Buckman, Foster-Powell, Kenton, King, Mt. Scott-Arleta, Piedmont, South Tabor, Wilkes and Creston-Kenilworth. Studies of these areas of SE and NE Portland show that they have less canopy cover than other parts of town. Closing this gap in priority service areas has been a primary goal for PP&R and the City overall as part of the Equitable Tree Canopy program.
PP&R Urban Forestry staff will ensure the new trees are watered, weeded and maintained for three years after planting. Tree planting sites are chosen to avoid utilities, maximize tree canopy and provide the greatest service to residents. The trees themselves are strategically selected to be climate-resilient and low maintenance.
“Trees are very important for improving the health, safety and well-being for Portlanders. Not only do they function to cool spaces on hot summer days, but they play a vital role in improving human health,” says City Forester Jenn Sairo. “The Free Street Trees effort is one of several programs in action to improve the green infrastructure of our neighborhoods, over the next five years.”
PP&R surveyed sites for available planting spaces Winter-Spring 2024 and a Street Tree Planting Survey postcard was sent to addresses being surveyed. The final selection of sites was made in Summer 2024, with notices being mailed to property owners adjacent to the selected planting sites in September. Property owners were given the opportunity to opt-out of planting through the October 15 deadline.
The project is funded by the City’s Tree Planting and Preservation Fund. The fund is used to plant trees to compensate for those removed during property development and other situations.
New street trees planted in the grassy strip between the curb and sidewalk. Photo credit PP&R.
