VISTA — Join Urban Corps of San Diego County and the city of Vista for a community tree planting event 9:30 a.m. Sept. 7 at Raintree Park, 545 E. Townsite Drive. This free event will give residents an opportunity to plant a community tree that will help build the urban forest in Vista.
“As a conservation corps, we know the value of trees in a community,” said Kyle Kennedy, CEO of Urban Corps of San Diego County. “Not only do they provide beauty, but they provide shade to keep areas cool. With the record heat that we have had, adding more trees to a community is a huge benefit.”
Urban Corps was awarded $1.253 million in Proposition 68 funding from CAL Fire’s Urban and Community Forestry’s Urban Forest Expansion and Improvement grant to plant 2,000 trees throughout San Diego County including 200 trees throughout the city of Vista.
“We are excited to partner with Urban Corps to support our efforts to maintain a thriving urban forest in Vista,” said Kuna Muthusamy, director of Public Works. “Our urban forest is an important part of our infrastructure. It enhances the beauty and livability of the city and provides many benefits including shade, run-off and erosion control, improved air quality and climate change mitigation.”
The city of Vista has about 19,000 trees with around 8,000 of these trees planted on city-owned property, including street medians, parks, open spaces and at public facilities. The remaining balance can be found in lining main and arterial roads or are privately owned trees that were planted in the public right-of-way portion of many parcels during the development phase of home building projects. Since 2018, the city has planted more than 600 trees and will continue to seek out partners and grants for future plantings.
Urban Corp’s San Diego County Urban Forestry and Arboriculture Project has a total of seven partners including the cities of Vista, Encinitas, San Diego, Imperial Beach and La Mesa along with the Rancho Santa Fe Association. All partners have agreed to receive trees and are working with Urban Corps on appropriate species, location and proper maintenance. Urban Corps also is partnering with Tree San Diego, a local nonprofit whose mission is to increase the tree canopy in San Diego, to provide tree planting demonstrations and education about the importance and proper care of trees to the public and Urban Corps staff.
For more information on the San Diego County Urban Forestry and Arboriculture Project or the Urban Corps’ Urban Forestry department, contact Lauren Welch at (619) 235-6884 or email [email protected].
