Volunteers helped deliver – and in some cases plant – more than 400 free trees for Boise residents last month. The giveaway is part of an effort to get 100,000 new trees in the ground before the end of the decade.
“A lot of trees going in West Boise in the Boise bench,” said Trees Idaho Executive Director Emma Stammer. “Which is great because that is one of our more-targeted areas that we'd like to see increased canopy.”
The Elaine Clegg City of Trees Challenge was announced in 2020, with a goal of planting a new forest seedling for every resident in Boise (about 235,000) and one new urban tree for every household in Boise.
The challenge is for anyone, but Trees Idaho, known previously as the Treasure Valley Canopy Network until rebranding earlier this year, is the group providing a lot of the momentum.
“Last year we planted and distributed 200 trees for the challenge here in Boise. And this year was just over 400,” Stammer said.
Nonprofit The Nature Conservancy has also partnered in the challenge, Stammer said, and the U.S. Forest Service helped the groups reach their goal of 235,000 new forest seedlings in 2024, as volunteers helped replant the Pioneer Fire burn scar in the Boise National Forest.
Free trees in Boise are distributed through an online signup on a first-come, first-served basis. This year’s trees were all claimed in less than 15 minutes. Stammer said the city of Boise provides the funding, and requires the trees to be available to anyone. In other cities, tree giveaways can be more targeted.
“For our programs that we offer in Nampa, Caldwell and Meridian, they're funded by a federal grant. Those are only for particular neighborhoods,” she said. “That helps us focus in on neighborhoods that are either low-income or identified as a high climate risk neighborhood.”
The trees are grown in western Oregon, Stammer said.
They aren’t native to Idaho, “but they are built to really thrive in an urban environment. There are trees that will provide a lot of environmental impacts beneficial to wildlife and provide all that shade and climate resilience that we need here,” she said.
The group stays in touch with recipients with reminders and tips for growing a healthy tree, and they want anyone who plants a tree to add it to their challenge database. They love getting pictures from happy recipients, but Stammer’s long-term plan includes more direct follow-up.
“Sending volunteers out to individual trees that we've planted and collecting data so we can really report on that and adjust our programs as needed.”
Stammer said Trees Idaho has also done a giveaway in Coeur d’Alene, and hopes to expand to Twin Falls, Bellevue and Pocatello in the future.
