Collecting Seeds, Collecting Hope

Every year as Southern California heats up, the threat of wildfires becomes ever more present. All it takes is a wayward ember for generations of green to be transformed into a charred moonscape overnight – trees to lonely carbon ghosts, and rolling hills to dusty ash. Even though these post-blaze landscapes may appear dead and barren, chaparral – the brush and shrubs that carpet our canyons – offers hope. These hardy plants, like black sage and California lilac, are the first to return after tragedy, slowly breathing life back.… Read more >>

ACTION ALERT: Make Your Voice Heard. Protect our City’s Trees!

Angelenos, a huge opportunity exists right now for you to take action to protect our City’s urban forest!

Did you know, the City of LA has launched a 30-year sidewalk repair program? This was triggered by a city settlement that secured more than $1.4 billion to make our sidewalks more accessible for all Angelenos. TreePeople has since championed the protection of our urban trees throughout this process. Our work on this effort, along with our partners, has led to an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to determine the impacts of the sidewalk replacement citywide–this includes the impacts to our urban forest!… Read more >>

Parting Thoughts of a Volunteer Manager

I’ve been reflecting on my time as TreePeople’s Volunteer Manager as I prepare to take on life’s next adventure to pursue my graduate degree in Urban Planning at UCLA this Fall. Over the past two years, I’ve been moved by the community of volunteers I get to work with every day.

I’ll never forget the mornings I woke up bright and early, making coffee and loading up the trucks for a day out in the field with the change makers of LA– the city I call home.… Read more >>

Jim & Eileen: The “It” Couple of Once Upon a Canyon Night

Our Director of Park Operations, Jim Hardie and his wife, Eileen Knight have been the “it” couple around TreePeople for many years and contributed so much to the organization, but their real pride and joy has been our summer entertainment series, Once Upon a Canyon Night.

After 15 seasons of beautiful music, hysterical comedy and powerful theater, it only makes sense that the start of Once Upon a Canyon Night came from the love and passion of these two amazing people.… Read more >>

How LA Teens Save Trees from Summer Heat

The future of LA’s trees is in the hands of the next generation of Angelenos this summer.

After five years of historic drought and extreme heat, many of LA’s trees are thirsty and vulnerable. And without healthy trees shading campuses and communities, students suffer— the air they breathe isn’t clean, they don’t have access to green space to cool down and even have their health impacted.

Thankfully for the third summer in a row, TreePeople’s Youth Leadership Program has invited LA area high school students to take climate action and join in on our Summer Tree Care Internship.… Read more >>

#CoolMyCity: LA’s Urban Cooling Collaborative

LA just increased its coolness factor by $320,000!

On the heels of a sweltering summer, the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council of the U.S. Forest Service awarded the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative (LAUCC), a national partnership led by TreePeople, a $320,000 grant to fund life-saving urban heat research.

The LAUCC is a unique national partnership between nonprofit groups, universities, government agencies and other experts with a goal to create neighborhood-by-neighborhood prescriptions against heat. The Collaborative is developing the most effective dose of trees plus reflective roofs and surfaces in order to save lives and make LA more livable, both today and in tomorrow’s changing climate.… Read more >>

6 Ways to Be Cool and Stay Cool this Summer

Many people assume that LA is a desert— it’s not. Actually, we are one of the few places on Earth that enjoy a Mediterranean climate. That’s one of the reasons we all love living here. Regions like ours enjoy mild winters and warm summers. But you may have noticed that summers are feeling extra hot lately!

With the ever-increasing threat of climate change, extreme heat is in our future. Even with the rains we saw over the winter, we still face unprecedented times.… Read more >>