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Tree Bark
News from Urban Forestry — All Trees, No Pulp • July 11, 2025
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Emerald Ash Borer Response Plan Now Available
 Photo: Leah Bauer, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Bugwood.org
Urban Forestry has released its Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Response Plan to prepare for the eventual arrival of this destructive, invasive beetle. While EAB has not yet been found in Portland, it has been detected in nearby counties, making proactive planning essential.
The Response Plan outlines how the City will manage EAB's potential impacts and support the community in protecting ash trees. Key changes already in effect include:
- Property owners can now apply for a permit to protect ash street trees with chemical treatments.
- Ash street trees under 6 inches in diameter may be proactively removed and replaced with a permit.
Find out how you can help protect Portland’s urban forest.
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Send in Your Tree Story to Support the Yard Tree Giveaway
 This year, we're giving away 4,000 free trees to Portland residents as a part of the Yard Tree Giveaway program and we need your help to spread the word.
If you have received a free yard tree from us in the past, we’d love to hear about your experience. Your story can inspire other Portlanders to participate and plant a free tree in their own yards.
You can share your tree story by filling out this form and including a photo of your tree. We'll be sharing these tree stories on social media to get the community excited about our free trees.
By sharing your story, you’re helping grow a more resilient urban forest for all Portlanders.
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Congratulations to the 2025 Class of NTS
 On Saturday, June 21, the 2025 class of Neighborhood Tree Stewards (NTS) graduated, joining a network of 500 alumni. In a city of nearly 4 million trees, we need enthusiastic, community-centered neighbors to help protect, preserve, and grow our urban forest. Over the course of seven weeks, Tree Stewards gathered on Tuesdays and Saturdays at various locations across the city, to explore the urban forest and learn about shade equity.
What NTS members had to say about their class experience:
- “Being in a room of passionate people is always inspiring....it was encouraging to see so many people engaged and ready to go out and make the world a better place for us all.”
- "NTS is a wonderful program that is really a great benefit to Portland. It gives us the opportunity to see what is behind the development of a healthy, urban tree canopy, and the many benefits."
- “The NTS experience advanced my existing tree knowledge and expanded my knowledge of valuable opportunities to steward Portland's street trees at a community level.”
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Upcoming Events
 Urban Forestry at the Albina Library Opening Celebrations
Saturday, July 19, 12 to 2pm
Albina Library Courtyard (216 NE Knott St, Portland, OR 97212)
Join Verde and Urban Forestry for a fun, hands-on activity where you'll learn how to plant a tree at the opening celebration for the Albina Library! There's a lot more to it than just digging a hole. Learn the techniques to help young trees thrive for years to come. Don't miss the bilingual Tree Story, celebrating how we grow together. This event is suitable for all ages.
Learn more about the July 19 event.
Sunday, July 20, 1 to 2:30pm
Albina Library Courtyard (216 NE Knott St, Portland, OR 97212)
Urban Forestry invites you to a special Tree People Storytime for children and families at the opening celebration of the Albina Library! Afterwards, learn how to identify some of Portland's most common trees. Then, create a tree-fortune to discover which tree best matches your personality.
Learn more about the July 20 event.
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 Door Hanging Volunteer Event in Lents/Powellhurst-Gilbert
Sunday, July 20, 10am to 1pm
Raymond City Park (11600 SE Raymond St, Portland, OR 97266)
Urban Forestry is launching a new program that offers free street trees to residents with planting space in front of their homes where there’s no sidewalk or curb. This area is known as an unimproved right-of-way. Many of the streets in Lents and Powellhurst-Gilbert fall into this category, making it a great opportunity to grow the neighborhood’s tree canopy. With limited tree cover, the area is especially vulnerable to increased heat. Planting more trees can help cool the neighborhood, improve air quality, and support community well-being. Join fellow tree lovers to spread the word by hanging as many doorhangers as you can in just two hours.
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 Holladay Park Tree Walk
Thursday, July 24, 10 to 11:30am
Holladay Park (NE 11th Ave and NE Multnomah St, Portland, OR 97232)
Join Urban Forestry alongside Go Lloyd for a tree walk in Holladay Park on Thursday, July 24. We'll walk around and through the park discussing shade equity and canopy cover in the Lloyd District and practice tree identification. We'll start at the picnic tables at the northwest corner of the park near the intersection of NE 11th and NE Multnomah.
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 Tabling at Sunday Parkways East Portland
Sunday, July 27, 11am to 4pm
Specific meeting location sent after registration
Celebrate community in beautiful East Portland while helping Urban Forestry grow our city's canopy! Volunteers, alongside Urban Forestry staff, will help people submit interest forms for our popular Yard Tree Giveaway events that occur every fall. Share your love of trees with folks curious about getting one to three free trees. We'll provide a short training on the Yard Tree Giveaway program and education materials you can use to get people excited about trees.
This event is a one of a series of tabling opportunities throughout July and August. Find more events like this one on our registration platform.
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Other News
Celebrating the Country's National Tree: The Oak
Last weekend the country turned 249 years old. We're keeping the celebration going by highlighting one of its great national treasures: our national tree. Did you know we have a national tree? In 2004, under President George W. Bush, the oak was officially named the tree symbol of our nation. Read the official press release for the designation and check out the article from the Arbor Day Foundation spotlighting a few oak species from across the country.
Figs Fighting Climate Change
From Kenya comes an unexpected ally in the fight against climate change: the Kenyan fig tree. Researchers from Austria, Kenya, Switzerland, and the United States found that certain species of figs can turn carbon dioxide from the air into calcium carbonate that gets stored in the soil. Calcium carbonate is the same mineral as limestone or chalk. Though not the only tree that has this ability, the Kenyan fig is the first fruit bearing tree known to be able to do this conversion. This discovery could have important implications for the agroforestry industry, especially as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise.
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