Tree Planting Efforts In Full Bloom

Apr. 22, 2022

Today, in celebration of Earth Day, the City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department (PRD) announced new steps in the “Let’s Plant Albuquerque” (LPA) tree-planting campaign. LPA aims to plant 100,000 trees in Albuquerque over the next ten years, one tree for every child in the City. Mayor Keller launched the initiative in 2019 to help restore and expand the City’s urban forest and tree canopy. LPA is a collaboration of many partners including government organizations, nonprofits, and the private sector.

“Take the pledge to plant a tree,” said Dave Simon, Director of the Parks and Recreation Department. “Together, we can make a greener, more sustainable Albuquerque.”

PRD unveiled several new elements of LPA including a new website with an LPA campaign “dashboard” feature and useful information about what kinds of trees to plant, how to plant and care for them, “TreeBate” information from the Water Authority, and other ways people can get involved. An interactive database called “TreePlotter” allows the City to take inventory of all the trees in City parks and City-owned properties in order to monitor and care for them. This will also enable the City to monitor tree canopy coverage and track heat maps in the City in order to strategically prioritize planting efforts. TreePlotter also allows people to upload data about their existing and newly-planted trees.

The City’s urban forest provides many environmental, social, and economic benefits including clean air, lower energy costs, beautiful neighborhoods and commercial districts, wildlife habitat, increased property value, and carbon capture. Despite the obstacles caused by the pandemic, LPA reports that 10,125 trees have been planted since 2019.

Current “Let’s Plant Albuquerque” partnership organizations include: TreeNM, the Water Authority, NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, Dakota Tree Project, and NM State Forestry. The OneAlbuquerque Fund is accepting donations from the public to help plant trees in the Duke City. For more information about “Let’s Plant Albuquerque” and how to get involved, visit letsplantabq.org/