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Tree Bark
News from Urban Forestry — All Trees, No Pulp • September 25, 2025
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Introducing Urban Forestry's New Partnership with Friends of Trees
 Urban Forestry and local nonprofit Friends of Trees are launching a new $1.8 million partnership to plant and care for 750 trees across Portland’s most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods. This expanded collaboration is part of the City’s Equitable Tree Canopy program funded by the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), and reflects a shared commitment to climate resilience, community stewardship, and long-term tree health.
Every street tree planted through this partnership will receive three years of follow-up care. This includes watering, monitoring, and replacement if needed. Yard tree recipients will receive guidance and support from Friends of Trees to help care for their trees and support long-term success.
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Volunteers Needed for Arbor Day
 Arbor Day is just around the corner, and we need your help to make it great.
This year, we’ll be celebrating at Sacajawea Head Start in the Cully Neighborhood. This event will be filled with lots of opportunities for kids and adults to play, learn, and take care of trees. We have many ways volunteers can help, based on their interests.
Options include:
- Event set up, break down, or food distribution
- Leading wreath making or coloring tables
- Supporting the book exchange and the quiet reading area
- Leading the tree identification or tree sensory exploration table
Volunteers will be provided with refreshments and Urban Forestry swag, as a thank you for their support. Shifts are 2.5 hours long, leaving you plenty of time to enjoy the day’s festivities.
Thanks for helping us create a fun, educational, and resource-filled event for the Cully Neighborhood!
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Our Urban Forest is Growing
 Urban Forestry completed a three-year effort to map, measure, and identify 252,180 street trees across the city. The data shows there is still room for improvement, but key findings include a 15% increase in Portland’s street trees over the past decade, greater species diversity, and about 90% of street trees are in good or fair condition.
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Event Highlight: Find Your Flare
 Last Friday, Urban Forestry hosted our annual Find Your Flare event with 25 community members. For three hours, volunteers diligently unearthed root flares of nearly 170 trees to support our first Yard Tree Giveaway event. Finding the root flare of trees ensures that they are planted at the right depth. This way, the tree’s roots will receive enough oxygen and can access water when it is irrigated. This work is crucial to get trees started off on the right foot.
There are more opportunities to uncover root flares at upcoming Yard Tree Giveaway events. Consider signing up to support us giving away 4,000 trees this year!
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Upcoming Events
 Tree Team and Tree Steward Social Event
Monday, September 29, 7 to 9pm
Fireside Room at Steeplejack Brewing Company (2400 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232)
Neighborhood Tree Teams and Neighborhood Tree Stewards are invited to this event on Monday, September 29, to network and share ideas. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in connecting with Tree Teams, finding projects to support in your neighborhood, and learning about people’s experiences in the Neighborhood Tree Stewards program. All are welcome to attend.
Sponsored by members of the Richmond and Arbor Lodge Tree Teams.
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 Mt Tabor Yard Tree Giveaway
Saturday, September 27, 8am to 12pm
Next to the Mt Tabor Community Garden near SE Lincoln & SE 61st Ave, Portland, OR 97215
Join Urban Forestry at our first Yard Tree Giveaway of the season. At this event, we are giving away 500+ trees for Portlanders to plant in their yards! We need volunteers to help us fill mulch buckets, load trees into cars, and uncover root flares on these young trees. No experience necessary.
Register to get your trees.
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Other News
Celebrating the Legacy of Botanist and Adventurer Ynés Mexía
Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to recognize and celebrate the many contributions of the Hispanic/Latino/é community to the culture and history of the United States. One person who deserves recognition for her contributions to the field of botany is Ynés Mexía. She is known as the first Mexican-American female botanist in the country. She began her study of plants at the age of 51 at UC Berkley. Over her 13-year career she identified over 500 plants, was the first person to collect plants in Denali National Park, and even had a genus named after her, Mexianthus.
You can hear about her life on this episode of American Masters or read her biography, “A Perfect Specimen: The 20th Century Renown Botanist Ynés Mexía”.
Bioblitz Competition for Hispanic Heritage Month
The Wildlife Society’s Latin American and Caribbean Working Group is partnering with Latino Outdoors to celebrate Latino Conservation Week and Hispanic Heritage Month through an iNaturalist BioBlitz. The top participant will win a pair of Vortex Diamondback Binoculars courtesy of The Wildlife Society. The bioblitz will run from September 12, at 12:00pm EST to October 10, at 12:00am EST.
Show Your Climbing Skills
The Pacific Northwest-International Society of Arboriculture Chapter Annual Training Conference Tree Climbing Championship is here! This year's competition is scheduled for Saturday, October 4, at Gabriel Park in Portland at 8am. The Masters climbing event will take place the following day, also at Gabriel Park starting at 9am. The Chapter is still looking for climbers to participate and volunteers to help support the event. Don't miss out!
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