May 23, 2023
In Part 2, Brian and Zeima start
off with a discussion of "green gentrification" and how, being
a community-based non-profit that plants trees, FUF aims to
mitigate that. We hear all about how plantings work, starting with
FUF's community engagement team identifying areas delineated by
grants and specifically targeting disadvantaged parts of The City.
Another criteria is simply areas that look like they could use
trees. The team walks block to block, collecting addresses so that
FUF can then send postcards to nearby residents. They do a site
assessment, species consultations with residents, purchase trees,
and choose a spot to host volunteers on planting days. We saw
the last parts of this process on May 6 when Jeff attended a
planting in Lower Nob Hill.
FUF averages 18 plantings a year, putting 20–45 trees per planting
into the ground. They planted around 1,120 trees last year, and
they maintain 2,000+ trees annually from previous plantings.
Maintenance lasts 3–5 years, depending on species. In its 40-plus
years, FUF has planted around 65,000 trees, which is about half of
all street trees in San Francisco.
We discuss the various ways that "trees are essential
infrastructure," from providing lower temperatures during extreme
heat events to carbon dioxide offsetting and more. This past year,
FUF planted 100 more trees than The City lost in total,
and that was before this winter's storms, which brought the
highest amount of precipitation in at least the last decade
(probably longer). Harsh winds took down trees in soil
oversaturated from all that rain over a relatively short period of
time. This all makes FUF's work that much more important, now
perhaps more than ever.
Action items Friends of the Urban Forest would like you to take
include:
Photography by Jeff Hunt