Who Speaks For the Trees?

Tree Equity Network meeting | Kristen Milliron, SeattleParksFoundation

by Claire Catania, Executive Director

Tree advocates in Seattle have long been a fairly homogenous group. Frontline communities, that is folks living in the areas most impacted by tree canopy loss, are rarely given a seat at the table. We’re overdue for a hard look at the big picture of tree equity in our city and to diversify what this work can be and who is doing it.

Enter the Tree Equity Network, a promising new collaboration between Birds Connect Seattle and Seattle Parks Foundation, to bring together legacy environmental groups, government agencies, and frontline community leaders from around King County, who are addressing tree loss and habitat restoration from their own unique perspective. So far, we have connected with over 30 different organizations working on various aspects of the urban forest. The group’s focus areas cover advocating to protect legacy trees, planting trees in Seattle’s developed parks, addressing tree canopy inequities, educating people on tree care and pruning, protesting permit and Growth Management Act violations, and more.

The primary aim of the Tree Equity Network is to sustain a long-term coalition that will help Seattle meet its goal of 30% equitable tree canopy coverage by 2037. We have already started bringing together these many different stakeholders to identify our collective strengths and resources within the network. Next, our work will be to align around high-level shared goals and to develop a clear roadmap to achieve them.

Initial conversations with community members have revealed issues like the cultural significance of trees, including but not limited to the culturally modified tree (CMT) in Wedgwood (“Luma”, a Western Redcedar) brought to light by the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe. We’re also hearing legitimate concerns about safety around large trees and the financial burden of managing their care in low-income areas. These historically marginalized perspectives deserve significantly more attention in city- and county-wide conversations about trees.

Achieving canopy and equity goals won’t be easy. We’re up against powerful lobbying groups like the Master Builders Association and the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections wielding a deeply flawed tree ordinance. That is why another important goal of the Tree Equity Network is to align the groups with a shared understanding around addressing the conflict between tree canopy advocates and construction/development in the city. A condition of participation in the Tree Equity Network is that we recognize that we must have both housing and a healthy, growing, equitably distributed urban forest. The only way we will make this vision a reality is if we all speak for the trees.

A tree sit Birds Connect Seattle participated in by a Western Redcedar | Glenn Nelson

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