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From the Battlefield to Farm Fields

America needs one million new farmers; returning war veterans need jobs.

Enter Ground Operations, the new documentary that follows vets who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan only to face a daunting transition back to civilian life. As filmmakers Dulanie Ellis and Raymond Singer show, organic food production is creating a restorative road home. Working with soil, plants, and animals, veterans de-escalate from the high velocity of combat in a revitalizing natural setting. “I realized I could be a nurturer instead of a destroyer, and that was a significant realization for me,” says a Marine.… Read more >>

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Visit TreePeople—But Find an Alternate Route to Coldwater Canyon Park, March 23–April 25!

Coldwater Canyon Avenue will be CLOSED between Ventura Blvd. and Mulholland Drive, from March 23 to April 25, 2013. We hope you’ll try these alternate routes so you can still enjoy our hilltop park:

Cahuenga Blvd./Highland Ave.
Laurel Canyon Blvd.
Beverly Glen Blvd.
Sepulveda Blvd.
Interstate 405

The road is closing because the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is continuing its City Trunk Line replacement project. The next construction phase will require the full closure of Coldwater Canyon Avenue.… Read more >>

Three Big Days, One Simple Act


While April 22 is just around the corner and Earth Day is a wonderful time to reflect and celebrate this incredible planet, this month there are two other days that highlight hugely important environmental issues. March 21 is International Day of Forests and March 22 is World Water Day.

How to celebrate? After all, these days commemorate such enormous global issues. If I had to choose one action, it would be this: plant a tree.

With the simple act of planting a tree, each of us can help maintain the urban forest and shift the water crisis, all with one easy but profound step.… Read more >>

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Human Help Needed to Restore Nature to the Angeles Forest

The devastating Station Fire of 2009 destroyed 160,000 acres of wilderness in the Angeles National Forest in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles—and fully 11,000 of those acres burned too deep in the soil for natural seed regeneration. So every season TreePeople and the U.S. Forest Service need lots of extra hands to help plant trees while the soil conditions and temperature are optimal.

We’re in the third planting season with our partners at Forest Aid: Angeles. To meet our 2013 goal we must plant 5,000 more seedlings than last year—for a total of 15,000 new trees.… Read more >>

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Not your typical field trip: 500 students win a chance to replant the Angeles National Forest

Students from 10 Los Angeles area middle and high schools learned this week that they were winners of sponsored field trips to the Angeles National Forest to help restore fire-damaged areas of one of Los Angeles County’s largest preserved open space.

The Facebook-based contest TreeByTree was a collaboration between TreePeople and Edison International. On a weekly basis, students from 17 schools posted photos of sustainability-minded projects they spearheaded, from recycling programs to tree plantings to converting a vintage VW Bug to electric.… Read more >>