Last Saturday, 26 volunteers showed up to help us plant 13 trees in the Industrial District/Southern most Arts District of downtown Los Angeles. This tree-planting was made possible by a grant from CalReleaf & CalFire. We partnered with the Korean Youth Community Center (KYCC) to make this happen. Uptown Pup, a new business in the area, generously provided a place to set up!
Ryan Allen is the Environmental Services Manager at KYCC, & he has taken a keen interest in what we are doing over here in downtown Los Angeles. Ryan knows that this area is severely lacking tree canopy & we are actively working with him & the KYCC to write grants to help bring more resources to plant & care for trees in this part of the City. We are excited to be partnering with the KYCC, who since 1975, have been serving the needs of their community. California Releaf, who provided the funidng to plant these trees, works statewide to promote alliances among community-based groups & individuals to encourage each to contribute to the livability of our cities by planting and caring for trees. We are also thrilled to be receiving support from Calfire (California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection), whose mission is to lead the effort to advance the development of sustainable urban and community forests in California. We think these new collaborations will lead to many, many more trees in our area!
The Feb. 7th tree-planting was also the first time we tried out a new technique for protecting young trees. Wood plank “tree guards”, as we are calling them, were put up around all the trees planted. This idea came from Friends of the Urban Forest up in San Francisco. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they say. There are a few small kinks to be worked out, but all in all, I would say our newly designed “tree guards” seemed to work out well.
We want to thank ALL he volunteers again for showing up early on a Sat. to help plant trees! We also want to thank our Councilman Jose Huizar, who has been a huge supporter of ours & Zinc Cafe for the yummy treats provided. This event went smoothly & quickly because so many of the volunteers who came out were “repeat offenders”- meaning, they have been to at least one of our tree-plantings before, making them semi-experts by now. This, coupled with the fact that most of the dirt was very sandy & easy to shovel- with the cuts being so close to the LA River. All in all a great day & one with new partners assisting us as we look to the future.