2025: From Sapling to Established Tree (Foundation)
This year, we turned seven. Thanks to your support, we have been on a growth trajectory since our days as a seedling foundation! Yes, at Tacoma Tree Foundation, when we think about time, we inevitably turn to trees. The tree that watches over us, our logo’s South Tacoma resident, the Garry oak or čaʔadᶻac, reaches maturity at age 30, when it first produces acorns. If we keep the oak’s trajectory in mind, maturity is still decades away for us.
But this year’s accomplishments and challenges made us feel like an established tree: the tags and stakes are off; our roots are spreading firmly under ground; our branches are providing more shade; and we’re feeling stronger!
At the same time, taking our cues from the oak means remaining aware that to reach maturity successfully, we must grow intentionally.
In 2025, we took every accomplishment and each challenge as an opportunity to reflect. In team and partner meetings, and in one-on-ones, we considered how to continue growing and strengthening our programs while staying connected to our community forestry roots, the neighborhoods we serve, and to our mission to increase stewardship of the urban forest across Greater Tacoma. Meanwhile, under the leadership of our Executive Director, Lowell Wyse, the Board of Directors conducted a community survey and adopted a new strategic plan, which will be released in 2026.
Each highlight we share below reflects these new and renewed efforts and commitments. Together, they are a celebration of everything your support allows us to accomplish, of your trust in our work, and everything we’re growing with you!
The Stakes and Tags are Off!
Green Blocks: Hilltop, our first solo planting project.
For environmental nonprofits and government agencies across the country, the year has been colored by difficult news about the loss of funding for wonderful projects meant to support climate change mitigation, and public and environmental health resilience. We are relieved to share that we did not lose the funding we had already been awarded, neither as a standalone organization nor in partnership with other entities.
Crucially, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) grant we received for our Green Blocks: Hilltop three-year planting project moved forward. While every Green Blocks program we plan, implement, and conclude is a point of pride, Green Blocks: Hilltop marks our very first solo planting project, meaning we planned and executed the entire program on our own! We have reached this milestone alongside the partners who have generously mentored us throughout the past six years. Special thanks go to our partners in the Urban Forestry program at the City of Tacoma.
Green Blocks: Hilltop is important for other crucial reasons. First, the Hilltop neighborhood is second only to South Tacoma as the neighborhood with the lowest tree canopy. This is a result of historical redlining and decades of disinvestment. A three-year planting project is a huge opportunity to reinvest in this vibrant, culturally and socially diverse community, and we are grateful for the opportunity to bring trees and their benefits to this Tacoma neighborhood. Second, it is our first multi-year neighborhood planting project, which allows us to set a more intentional pace from the outreach stage through to providing tree care support after planting.
The excitement at the first tree planting event in March was palpable! We were particularly thrilled to plant alongside Hilltop residents who walked over from their homes to support their neighbors by planting on their shared right-of-way.
“Thank you and your team of volunteers so much for this incredible initiative, my street already looks so much brighter since the trees have been planted.”
We supported the planting phase by providing essential resources for tree survival: mulching, watering in the summer, and hosting neighborhood-specific technical workshops to support tree care education.
Successfully completing our first planting at Hilltop was possible thanks to neighborhood partners, many of whom volunteered, Hilltop organizations who supported our outreach efforts, and every single neighbor who helped us spread the word, requested trees, and welcomed us. Thank you!
We’re looking forward to once again canvassing Hilltop this coming winter to offer free trees to new households and neighbors, and to holding our second planting event in March 2026!
If you’d like to volunteer, sign up on our website, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay abreast of volunteer opportunities.
We reached 34 households and planted 63 trees with the help of 82 volunteers
Taking Root
Prioritizing relationships and trees over numbers
“I want to thank you and all the volunteers for doing all this preparation, planning, marking planting sites and then digging, planting and staking the trees! What a wonderful thing!”
What allows us to take root is a community passionate about investing in trees and our watersheds, in each other’s health, wellbeing, longevity, and sense of belonging. If we had one million trees to give away it would mean nothing without each one of you! This is why our Planting team believes that our work starts with the people. In addition, as we deepen our understanding of tree survivability, it has become clear that our planting numbers will only be meaningful if we can offer additional support to neighbors and the trees they adopt.
This is why in 2025, as we planned and executed Green Blocks: Hilltop, Green Blocks: South End, Branch Out, and made decisions about our tree shares, we prioritized reducing barriers to trees and tree care every step of the way. We called in utilities for residents requesting trees, conducted site assessments, delivered trees, and provided mulch and watering bags. In addition, we piloted our first residential watering program to support tree recipients and trees throughout the summer months, a critical step toward ensuring survivability.
This year alone, we were able to provide all or most of these services to approximately 400 trees!
Providing more services means less time for our smaller tree shares, which lowers the total number of trees we will distribute each year. But it exponentially raises the likelihood of a tree-lined future for Greater Tacoma! We believe that is what careful stewardship should do!
Assessing sites allows us to map available planting space across Tacoma neighborhoods, and in preparation for planting projects, it ensures the right tree goes in the right place. This year, we assessed sites for over 400 residential trees!
Watering trees is crucial for tree survivability, especially throughout the first five years. Not all households are equipped for easy right-of-way watering. Being able to support Hilltop residents with residential watering makes the promise of tree-lined streets ever more achievable!
Delivering trees and offering planting support as part of our Green Blocks and Branch Out programs reduces barriers to trees. For trees to grow healthy, they must be planted carefully. Not everyone has the time or resources to plant a tree, but everyone deserves trees!
In addition to these services, we continued to offer language access support at Branch Out thanks to our Language Ambassadors, who belong to Latine, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese communities in Greater Tacoma.
Connecting Canopies
A culture of stewardship
There’s nothing quite like walking down a street where tree canopies meet. There, we find shade, shelter, and experience a sense of awe. What does it take to grow a city where every neighborhood has streets like these? Providing free trees and tree care resources must be paired with a robust education program that embeds knowledge and resources in every neighborhood, so that residents can care for their trees as well as connect with trees in intellectual and emotional ways. Our Education program aims to do just that, and we are doing it alongside invaluable partnerships that we have cultivated over the last six years.
This is why in 2025 we continued to tend to our education program by intentionally planning 38 events, most recently our annual State of the Urban Forest where we shared that Tacoma’s tree canopy coverage has increased by 1%!
We enhanced our education program by listening to what you want to learn about. Gathering feedback you shared on social media channels, emails, and in conversations, we learned that Greater Tacoma is excited about hands-on workshops that provide them with first-hand knowledge of mycology, pruning, soil, and more!
Many thanks to our partners at Chief Leschi Schools, the Puyallup Tribe, and Windz of Change Alliance for inviting us to collaborate on education projects throughout 2025, and to the City of Tacoma’s Office of Sustainability, Tacoma Creates, and Pierce County for opening avenues of partnership across Greater Tacoma and the region.
With your feedback in mind, we offered 12 science and urban forestry presentations, including a hands-on mycology workshop, led by Lisa Kenny, that was at capacity even before we had finished our outreach plan!
We also learned that Greater Tacoma wants to discuss complex questions to better understand the relationship between plants and people. This is why we gathered a panel of five amazing experts, including ecologists, scholars, and Tribal partners—Chris Briden, Gail Sklar, Jenny Liou, Michael Yadrick, and Tim Lehman—who shared their ecological, cultural, and social perspectives on what is a native plant, and how the way we relate to plants can contribute to creating a more fair urban forest.
“Tree captaining takes my current involvement and deepens it enabling me to better connect with the community and green Tacoma in an equitable and just way. ” — Tree Captain Trainee
In addition, we continued to offer tree care workshops and increased the number of Tree Captains who lead volunteer planting teams! With every educational opportunity, we’re putting the knowledge where it belongs—in the hands and hearts of the community—and this year we trained a total of 99 community members on planting, pruning, and tree health.
“I genuinely feel more connected to people who share my values right here in my community more than I ever have in the last 15 years of living here. I cannot thank you enough for this experience and I am so excited for the new friendships, allies, and community advocates I can get to know and lean on. Thank you!”
A crucial part of our education program is the Tacoma Pierce County Climate Leadership Cohort, which we were proud to shepherd on behalf of our City and County partners for the fourth consecutive year! 16 community members completed the training, and 15 graduated with Capstone projects that focused on reducing barriers to nature and sustainability, building coalitions and community resilience. We are incredibly grateful to the 22 speakers who offered their support and expertise throughout the program!
This year, we received a generous grant from the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to co-develop some planting and educational programming, which took place throughout the year. In May, we were invited to lead a planting event with students and teachers at Chief Leschi Schools. This special day involved planting evergreen huckleberry plants in the school’s sacred circle, and supporting a special “treaty tree” by removing grass and planting companion species around it.
In the fall, we facilitated a Native Forest Stewards training, also at Chief Leschi Schools. Around 30 high school students, tribal citizens, tribal staff, and others gathered to learn about the cultural importance of forests to Native peoples, the role of the Puyallup Tribe in caring for the lands and waters, and a variety of management practices, from street tree planting to ensuring cultural access to forested areas and traditional foods. We are so inspired by all of the participants and honored by the way this incredible partnership has developed!
Alongside education, residents need to know how to advocate for their street and backyard trees, and to speak up for tree-friendly policies and initiatives. This year, we are excited to share that we have launched our advocacy web page that provides information on policy, regional tree canopy data, resources for renters, local and national urban forestry maps, primers on how to influence policy, and more!
Speaking of Canopy…
We’re excited to announce that thanks to our amazing team member, Eden Standley (they/them), the Tacoma Tree Foundation now boasts its own board game: Canopy Quest! Funded by a City of Tacoma Sustainability Small Grant, this collaborative game offers an accessible and approachable way for community members to learn about local urban forestry, stormwater management, and tree planting protocol, and to experience team tree planting projects. Come visit us at future tabling events and stay tuned for community gatherings where we’ll be playing it!
Staying Grounded
A new strategic plan to guide us through the next seven years!
For the better part of the year, Lowell and our incredible Board of Directors worked relentlessly to create a new strategic plan. By tapping into a responsive and generous network of partners and community members, they started out this monumental project by surveying the community. Then, through several one-on-one conversations with partners, full-time and part-time staff, and through retreats and monthly meetings, they produced the new plan that will keep us mission-driven and growing intentionally as we move toward maturity. The fully designed plan will be released next month.
We’re excited to conclude these highlights by sharing our new mission statement, which is the result of listening carefully to what you see as our role in the community. Thanks to everyone who participated in this process! We’re excited and honored to continue working for Greater Tacoma in 2026 and beyond.
The mission of Tacoma Tree Foundation is to grow community stewardship of the urban forest across Greater Tacoma through planting, education, and advocacy.
2025: Our Work by the Numbers
THANK YOU, DONORS, EVENT ATTENDEES, PARTNERS, SPONSORS, TREE RECIPIENTS, VOLUNTEERS, AND EVERYONE WHO MADE OUR WORK POSSIBLE AND JOYFUL THIS YEAR!
