Lakewood tree board doubles giveaway, urges city funding for tree education and protection

The Lakewood Tree Advisory and Education Board told the city’s Public Works and Sustainability Committee on April 21 that it will double its tree‑giveaway program in 2025 and recommended adding an education fund and other supports to improve newly planted tree survival.

The advisory board’s chair, Linda Granstaff, and board member Mary Kennedy briefed the committee on 2024 activities and the board’s priorities for 2025. Granstaff said the board’s mission is to “collaborat[e] with the City on the tree policies and practices, the, promoting the City’s tree programs, and educating residents, regarding, responsible tree stewardship and the benefits of trees on private property.” She told the committee the board is focused on increasing Lakewood’s tree canopy to 33.5 percent by 2035.

The board said the pilot community canopy giveaway in 2024 — two distributions of 100 trees each — “sold out in hours,” Kennedy said, and that the city will expand the program in 2025 to 200 trees in the spring and 200 in the fall. Granstaff and Kennedy said the…