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Washington Evening Journal
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Trees Forever partnered with 112 communities in 2024
Regional nonprofit provides tree planting for projects in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MARION — Iowa-based environmental nonprofit organization Trees Forever completed tree planting projects in 112 communities across Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin in 2024.
The group organized thousands of volunteers and granted funding for environmental projects, while also partnering with municipalities to plant and care for public trees.
Much of Trees Forever's planting work aims to help communities recover from natural and man-made tree loss, such as from the invasive emerald ash borer or natural disasters, the organization said in a press release.
The group promotes the planting of diverse, native trees and prairie to build a more resilient and beneficial local ecosystem.
The scope of work also expanded this year. Trees Forever has offices in both the Cedar Rapids and Des Moines metros and contracts to work with programming such as Growing Futures, which employs area high school students plant and care for urban trees while developing professional skills and experience.
These partnerships are expanding into the surrounding communities.
Smaller towns and rural areas are also key to Trees Forever's environmental mission, the press release said. Along with providing funds and expertise for planting projects in these areas, Trees Forever offers programs like Community Visioning, which helps small Iowa towns to plan, design, and implement green infrastructure projects into trail and community transport upgrades.
Trees Forever provides education to the public on a variety of environmental topics through in-person field days, webinar series and volunteer trainings. This includes the Trees Forever TreeKeeper program, a course designed for people who wish to become more knowledgeable about tree planting and care and educates participants to become effective environmental volunteers and advocates.
In 2024 this course was offered in person in select cities in Iowa and Illinois and online.
Anyone who wants to be involved in Trees Forever funding and educational programming can visit TreesForever.org.
