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All are invited to join Canopy's annual party:

A ceremonial tree planting for new Palo Alto Mayor Karen Holman will be followed by refreshments, mingling, and a brief awards ceremony. The event is free, but space is limited, so RSVP today.

Thank you, East Palo Alto sound wall volunteers!

Over the last few months, a team of intrepid Canopy volunteers worked on hundreds of trees that line the East Palo Alto sound wall on East and West Bayshore Roads.

Volunteers weeded and pruned existing trees to ensure their continued vitality. They also planted 60 new trees from acorns and seedlings to replace trees damaged by cars, and to further enhance canopy cover along the busy roads.

Canopy is grateful for all the volunteers that worked so hard on this project. A special thank you to Board Certified Master Arborist Dave Muffly--who originally designed the planting--for leading work days and offering his pruning expertise. Several Canopy planting leaders and The City of East Palo Alto tree crews have also been invaluable.

Illegally topped trees highlight need for urban forest protection

At the same time that Canopy volunteers were caring for trees on one stretch of road, trees on another stretch suffered a different fate.

Just before Christmas, staff discovered that 11 beautiful sound wall trees had been
illegally topped, without the knowledge or permission of the City (see photos here). The trees are profoundly and permanently damaged, and may never recover. After eight years of care and investment, many of these trees will need to be removed.

Two of these happen to be my favorite sound wall trees:  a large Tipuana Tipu (pictured) that had initially struggled to establish, but in the last two years was growing vigorously into a beautiful flowering shade tree, and a 30' Cork Oak, an amazing specimen, was already an iconic sound wall tree. Both were cut in half.

I regularly visit the sound walls trees and they always fill me with pride for the difference Canopy makes in the community. It is disheartening to see the loss of investment the City, Canopy, and the community made in these trees through combined efforts to plant, establish, and maintain them for the last 8 years.

The trees on the sound wall were planted in 2007 as part of the East Palo Alto Tree Initiative, a multi-year project to enhance East Palo Alto's urban forest by planting and establishing 1,200 trees in key areas.

Hundreds of community volunteers from East Palo Alto contributed to the project. School children, high school groups, churches, and families all came out to help plant the trees and to care for them once they were in the ground. Read award-winning Julia Scott's account here; see planting days photos here.

Community members and supporters made this investment because they understand the life-giving benefits of trees -- such as cleaner air, enhanced public health, a greener, more beautiful city, and a strengthened sense of community pride.

The topped trees underscore the need not only strengthen the urban forest, but also to safeguard it. As you know, trees take a long time to grow, but they can be damaged or cut down very quickly. Canopy is working with the City of East Palo Alto to identify those responsible and to find ways to ensure this will never happen again.

We all have a role in safeguarding the urban forest

Here are three things you can do to grow and protect our local urban forest:

• Know your city ordinances. Most cities prohibit pruning city-owned trees, or require a permit.

• Learn about local trees and how to care for them.

• Learn about tree mistakes to avoid.