SEATTLE — Over the next five years, leaders here in the Emerald City will spend millions in federal dollars to green up neighborhoods that lack trees. As Seattle and the surrounding region deal with more frequent extreme heat events, residents are starting to view trees as more than a luxury.
“The conversation around our urban forest has hit a high degree of urgency because of climate change,” said Jessyn Farrell, director of the city’s Office of Sustainability & Environment. “What has really shifted in the last couple of years is the idea that trees are important climate infrastructure, and trees are really suffering because of climate change.”
As cities across the country brace for more extreme weather, a new federal grant program is helping them use trees as a solution — especially in neighborhoods with little canopy. Urban forests provide shade that significantly lowers temperatures during heat waves; they also absorb stormwater runoff and air pollution. But communities of color and low-income areas are far less likely to share in those benefits.
“This is an incredible investment in the vision of trees being considered true living infrastructure and not just something that’s available for some,” said Beattra Wilson, who leads the U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. “Many communities have been suffering the consequences of not having these investments.”