BOISE, Idaho — As Boise continues to face issues with poor air quality, the City of Trees Challenge aims to be a solution for the future.
The community-wide initiative, launched in 2020, aims to plant one tree for every household in Boise and one seedling for each person.
The City of Boise is working with several local nurseries, two non-profit organizations, and the U.S. Forrest Service. Together, they all will contribute to the goal of planting 100,000 trees in Boise and 235,000 seedlings in nearby forests of Idaho.
Organizers said the challenge will provide long-term environmental benefits, particularly by improving air quality.
"Four years into the planting initiative and a lot of people don't even know about it so were trying to do a better job just letting people know about this opportunity," said Mike Andrews, a City of Boise Forester.
According to Andrews, more than 17,000 trees have been planted in Boise, and 235,000 seedlings for reforestation.
The U.S. Forest Service stated the 2016 Pioneer Fire in Boise National Forest is just one example of scared land that needs help with recovery.
“It's the right tree, right place, right purpose. Not simply planting a whole forest of trees in your yard when 30 years from now, you have to cut them all down because they've outgrown the space," Andrews said. "What we really want to look at is planting a tree that can get to maturity and stay there for a while."
Andrews told KTVB he is encouraging residents to take part in the challenge.
In addition to improving air quality, trees help reduce water runoff and erosion, provide shade for people and wildlife, and produce clean air.
The City of Boise estimates the trees planted will ultimately save more than $3 million worth of in environmental care costs.
Andrews adds that Boise needs to consider the “planting of 100,000 trees, thinking about about 30 to 40 years in the future, the size of those potential trees and then the benefits that they will provide”.
The challenge is targeting areas of the city with fewer trees. This will increase Boise’s tree canopy coverage to 30%. The last official coverage was measured 16% in 2013.
The U.S. Forest Service supports the City of Trees Challenge. The agency believes planting more trees helps restore areas affected by current and past wildfires.
"If we don't go in and plant the landscape just takes a really long time to re vegetate naturally, probably on the scale of hundreds of years, when we're talking about a really big fire," USDA Forrest Service District Ranger Joshua Newman told KTVB Friday.
People in the community can get involved by recording trees planted in their own yards or volunteering to plant trees for others.
City of Boise residents can fill out an application to request a free tree through a City of Trees Challenge partner, Treasure Valley Canopy Network.
Requests for free trees are available as long as supplies last. The organization was able to offer a total of two rounds of tree giveaways in 2024.