DENVER — The City of Denver started the process of planting thousands of trees strategically around Denver over the next several years.
The goal is to build out Denver’s tree canopy where it's needed the most.
Elizabeth Cohen, with the city’s climate action office, walked us through the plan outside of Academia Ana Marie Sandoval — where the work has already started.
“Denver is hoping to expand its tree canopy, especially in places that are really heat vulnerable, some of the hottest places in the city,” Cohen said. “Our plan is to plant 3,000 trees in the next four years. We're speeding it up a bit. We received funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to plant these trees, and we're excited to get going even more.”
Cohen said the focus will be planting trees around ten Denver Public Schools that are considered heat vulnerable.
“I mean, you know what it feels like on a really hot day, and then you walk underneath a cool tree," Cohen said. “These kids who are at this school are going to be playing on the playground on a 80 or 90 degree day."
Cohen hopes the tree canopy will give them some relief that they don't have right now.
The trees will also be planted in neighborhoods in what’s known as the “inverted L.”
These are historically under-invested neighborhoods with the most heat exposure and lowest tree canopy.
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Areas with out proper shade can heat up nine to ten degrees hotter than other parts of the city that do have more tree shade. That extreme heat can lead to health problems as well.
Cohen said the expanded canopy will serve two purposes — providing shade and helping out neighborhoods in food deserts.
“For neighborhoods that may not have a local grocery store, there is access to this fresh fruit,” Cohen said. “We call it a food forest. Bushes and trees that all produce berries and things like that. So it really can help locally the quality of life.”
The project is set to cost a total of $8 million, including $5 million from the Inflation Reduction Act and $3 million from Denver tax payer dollars.
“People just even feel happier around trees. It also helps improve the biodiversity all the creatures that live in the trees,” Cohen said.
In total, the city is working with ten DPS schools for this project.
They are also running a pilot to make sure these trees survive in extreme temperatures.