Uniting for Trees

The City’s ReLeaf Cedar Rapids Plan recently earned two Federal grant awards totaling $9.5 million. The grants will help us plant trees along City streets and remove stumps in some public parks. The plan’s emphasis on equity in replanting following the 2020 Derecho was critical to obtaining funding. Both grants require that projects concentrate on disadvantaged neighborhoods, closely aligning with the plan’s priorities. Nearly 12,000 trees will be planted with funding from the Federal grants, prioritizing trees in neighborhoods most needing the benefits trees provide.

Deep Rooted Benefits

Trees are amazing! They clean water, reduce flooding, absorb and store carbon dioxide, and clean the air. They are critical in reducing energy costs, decreasing crime, and eliminating heat islands. Trees are known to increase home values and create habitats for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. Research has demonstrated that trees create environments that improve learning, accelerate healing, and inspire outdoor physical activity.

Making an Impact

While the benefits of trees matter everywhere, they are especially impactful in historically underserved neighborhoods where a robust tree canopy can balance out other disparities. In determining the ReLeaf planting schedule, planners consulted the Tree Equity Score tool developed by American Forests. The tool measures factors like existing tree canopy, population density, income levels, employment status, heat-island impacts, public health, and the presence of children, seniors, and people of color. A resulting, weighted score helped the City plant trees first in areas with the lowest Tree Equity Score, where they could have the greatest immediate impact.

Maps of Cedar Rapids created following the Derecho indicated some of the most vulnerable areas in the city lost the most tree canopy. “Following the Derecho, we found that poor tree canopy and corresponding heat-island impacts affected those more socially vulnerable than before the storm,” said Carole Teator, ReLeaf Program Manager. For this reason, as Cedar Rapids replants, the neighborhoods affected the most by the Derecho’s negative impacts from lost trees will be replanted first.

“Equity is a key component of our mission,” said Hashim Taylor, Director of Parks and Recreation. “It is our responsibility to make sure that our tree-planting program prioritizes areas where trees will have the most significant impact.”