It’s time once again for the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods to give away free trees to almost anyone who wants one. Just get a group of neighbors (a minimum of five households) together to request from 10 to 40 trees per project. Every participating household can also get a fruit tree for their own yard. Deadline for applications is Aug. 16.
This is the 15th year that Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is providing free trees through the Neighborhood Matching Fund’s Tree Fund program. Through the Fund, Seattle residents have planted more than 20,000 trees and built stronger community connections along the way.
In 1972, Seattle’s land area had a tree cover of 40 percent. Now, that cover has dropped to 22 percent. This decline threatens nature’s ability to help manage storm water, reduce erosion, absorb climate-disrupting gases, improve public health and clean the air. The goal of the Tree Fund program is to increase the percentage back to 30 percent, build community, and promote a clean and green environment for Seattle’s streets.
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Although we may have less trees than 40 years ago, I’ll bet those trees that are left ,are more than twice as large as they were then. So, maybe our coverage is not as far off as we think. don
Don – The statement was that tree coverage has decreased from 40 percent to 22 percent. They measured coverage not the number of trees.