This past week on Arbor Day Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot unveiled the City of Chicago’s newest tree initiative. According to the press release the city will plant 75,000 trees over the next five years.
The initiative, which has been named Our Roots Chicago, is part of the city’s 2022 Climate Action Plan. This plan is designed to highlight the city’s commitment to environmental justice and equity.
Officials say they will focus on planting trees in neighborhoods that have a smaller tree cover and will work to more equitably distribute trees around the city. The Mayor’s office has pointed out that the south and west sides of the city have fewer trees and will be the site of most of the initial planting planned for the program.
Officials have partnered with The Community Tree Ambassador program, a tree equity working group, that will train residents to help identify potential tree locations on city parkways. Participants will be able to identify and submit potential tree planting sites from their mobile devices. This program will launch later this month.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
A great gesture, but wondering how the City will prevent the trees from being stolen? Past efforts to plant trees in these neighborhoods have faired poorly due to vandalism resulting in less canopy cover.