The City of Albuquerque has announced a new alliance with community organizations to celebrate Arbor Day. The tree-planting holiday is celebrated every year on the second Friday of March. The new alliance has united with a common goal to grow Albuquerque’s urban forest, and is appropriately named, Let’s Plant ABQ.
Let’s Plant ABQ brings together Tree New Mexico, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA), Bernalillo County, New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service, The Nature Conservancy, the Dakota Tree Project, New Mexico State Forestry Division and the City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department. Each organization works on tree planting and outreach projects, and now they are now joining forces to make their efforts more effective.
The community partnership propels the mayor’s goal to plant 100,000 trees in the city. The campaign promotes community tree plantings by individuals and organizations, sharing resources about tree planting and tree care and educating the public about the importance of Albuquerque’s urban tree canopy.
One of the first outreach projects by Let’s Plant ABQ will be to provide local nurseries with eye-catching posters that list climate-ready trees best suited for Albuquerque’s high desert environment. The list includes Atlas and Deodar Cedar, Netleaf Hackberry, Oklahoma Redbud and Desert Willow, among many others. The full list of climate-ready trees can be viewed at: nature.org/newmexicotrees.
“Climate change is here, and we are seeing the impacts all around us. The climate-ready tree lists help homeowners, businesses and developers select trees that can thrive in our future climate condition,” says Sarah Hurteau, climate program director for The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico. “This is just another factor to consider when selecting the right tree, for the right place, at the right time.”
Ways to get involved in Let’s Plant ABQ’s tree-planting mission:
- The first 100 people to plant a tree and email a photo and a mailing address to urbanforestry@cabq.gov will receive a free Let’s Plant ABQ merch item
- Utilize ABCWUA’s TreeBate program
- Gives a maximum rebate of $100 on residents’ water bills to help cover the cost of tree maintenance or the purchase of new trees
- Organize a community or organizational tree-planting event
- Tree plantings with the city can be scheduled through Tori Fox: urbanforestry@cabq.gov.
- Remember a loved one through the City of Albuquerque Tribute Tree Program or through the Dakota Tree Project’s Tree Dedication Program
- Donate to the “Lets Plant ABQ” One Albuquerque Fund or one of the other partnering nonprofits
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