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Trees Forever and Marion outline long-running urban reforestation partnership and youth planting program
Summary
Trees Forever reported to the City Council on its decades-long partnership with Marion, including a Growing Futures youth crew that planted 200 trees in 2024 and a 2025 plan of additional right-of-way plantings and volunteer events.
Trees Forever staff and city officials on April 1 highlighted a long-running urban reforestation partnership that has yielded thousands of trees in Marion and will continue this spring with new plantings and youth workforce development.
Molly Stolke, of Trees Forever, told the council the organization — founded in Marion in 1989 and now operating across several states — has completed nearly 100 projects in Marion over 34 years, delivering about $330,000 in grants and $377,000 in local match that resulted in more than 6,230 planted trees and 75 seedlings. "In the last 34 years, we've engaged with over 2,600 volunteers just here in Marion," Stolke said.
Stolke described the 2024 Growing Futures program, which hired 14 local youth (ages 14–18) to plant 200 trees in Marion and provided professional-development training. She said the program delivered two volunteer planting dates that drew 45 volunteers contributing 192 hours. "We planted 200 trees and we did professional development such as vehicle maintenance, financial information," she said.
City staff noted the council adopted an urban reforestation plan last September. Mike (staff member) told council that right-of-way plantings will be a visible component of the plan and that the city and Trees Forever would strengthen partnerships and pursue new planting collaborations this spring and summer.
Stolke described Trees Forever's post-planting commitments: the Growing Futures crew waters new trees weekly for one year and Trees Forever warranties plantings for a year, replacing trees that fail in that window. "We take care of it for a year," she said. Volunteers and residents have engaged with crews while planting, Stolke added, and the group plans a volunteer planting event in Marion on May 22, 2025.
Council members thanked Trees Forever for continued work, noted the importance of rebuilding canopy after the derecho, and welcomed Marion remaining the organization's headquarters. No formal council action was taken; the presentation was informational.
