Haley Miller has her dream job at Friends of Trees. In fact it was trees – and the outdoor recreational opportunities – that brought her to Portland in 2010.

“Trees have just such a calming effect to me,” she explained. “If I feel really stressed or overwhelmed, I go to anywhere they have big trees.

“That’s why I think it’s important to get more trees in the city, so people who can’t make it to a national park can take a walk in their neighborhood park and see trees, and be around trees.”

Just as important are trees in parking strips, Haley added. “They provide shade and protection from wind and rain.” They also provide barriers for pedestrians from cars and tend to slow the traffic.”

Beyond emotional and esthetic qualities, environmental science credits trees for improving air quality and reducing “heat island” effects on hot days. “I love putting more trees in places that need them the most.”

She goes further than helping neighbors select trees to put in the ground. Friends of Trees has spawned community engagement around tree plantings. Although the organization serves the entire metro area, neighborhood trees senior specialist Haley is responsible for planning the planting events in Concordia, Vernon, Woodlawn and Piedmont neighborhoods.

After Friends of Trees accepts requests from local residents for trees in their yards, she plans morning-long planting efforts in the four neighborhoods.

Pre-pandemic, that meant creating a central staging area where about 200 volunteers met for breakfast and training. They divided into teams, each with an experienced team leader and about 10 trees to plant. They’d return by noon for a celebratory potluck lunch.

“People would meet each other, neighbors meeting neighbors,” she said. “The whole community aspect is really important to us.”

In a typical season – October through April – 6,000 volunteers donate about 40,000 hours.

During the pandemic, 21,311 trees and native shrubs trees were planted, but volunteers worked mostly solo. Those experienced volunteers were provided trees and locations to plant them.

“I was grateful and in awe,” Haley recalled. “They still came out in the rain on their own and planted the trees. It just shows how important trees are and how these volunteers respect that.”

Haley and her 27 colleagues at Friends of Trees are now planning how COVID-19 concerns will shape the upcoming planting season. For details as they become available, contact her at Haleym@FriendsOfTrees.org.

There’s one thing she can predict now with certainty. “We’ll engage the community in a way that feels safe and respectful.”

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

Often, when homes in Concordia are demolished – to be replaced with new, larger homes – any existing mature trees on the site are also removed.

This practice can remove habitat for birds and animals, as well as remove the shading, cooling and air quality services trees provide to help mitigate the urban heat island effect.

But doesn’t Portland have an adopted city tree code that implements the Portland Urban Forest Plan and protects the beloved trees of our neighborhood?

According to research provided by neighbor Jordana Leeb, yes. And no.

Unfortunately, the current tree code exempts sites of under 5,000 square feet in size from tree preservation requirements when undergoing development.

What this means effectively is almost none of Concordia west of 33rd Avenue is subject to the Portland Tree Code:

• Parcels south of Killingsworth Street tend to have an average lot size of 4,000-5,000.
• Parcels north of Killingsworth sit on historically platted lots that are only 2,500 square feet.
• Even east of 33rd many parcels are – or can be – subdivided into lots of 5,000 square feet or less.

For sites over 5,000 square feet, onethird of all on-site trees over 12 inches in diameter are to be preserved, but applicants can choose to pay fees in lieu of preservation for any trees they wish to remove below this threshold.

The fee is only due, however, if the site isn’t eligible for an exemption from the tree code because a tree is:

• Dead, dying or could be declared dangerous by an arborist
• “Nuisance species”
• Exempted by a land use review
• Tree removals already approved through a land division or planned development
• Other reasons

Indeed, Portland’s tree code seems to be doing its part to help perpetuate Portland’s nickname: Stumptown.

Data from 2018 to 2020 citywide reports over 33 trees were chopped down that were at least a foot in diameter of the trunk at the breast height of the average person. Additional were uncounted trees with smaller diameter trunks.

The Portland Urban Forest Management Plan lacks any sort of quantitative goals to achieve in terms of tree canopy coverage, urban heat island mitigation or even tree planting.

Plans without goals are easier to achieve, which perhaps explains why this plan, policy and code do very little to actually preserve the trees of Concordia from being cut down during development.

According to the Portland Urban Forest Action Plan of 2020, 30.7% of the city is covered currently by tree canopy, up from 26% in 2002.

The plan does not state a goal for future tree canopy coverage; however, other cities have adopted goals. Nearby Milwaukie has a goal of increasing its tree canopy to 40% by 2040. Farther away, a tree canopy already covers 40% of Pittsburgh, which is still seeking to protect and expand tree coverage beyond that.

Garlynn Woodsong lives on 29th Avenue, serves on the CNA board and is an avid bicyclist. He also is a dad who is passionate about the city his son will inherit. He is the planning + development partner with Cascadia Partners LLC, a local urban planning firm. Contact him at LandUse@ConcordiaPDX.org.

Reminding a community of its differences and similarities, creating a living laboratory to study trees, filtering pollutants and noise from nearby arterial roads, acting as a gateway for people traveling from the airport to northeast Portland neighborhoods.

All these and more were the aspirations for creating the International Grove 10 years ago at the corner of 42nd Avenue and Lombard Street.

Developing the grove was part of the Bureau of Environmental Services Grey to Green Canopy Initiative. That eightyear commitment began in 2008 to increase the health of local watersheds.

Efforts included construction and planting projects to divert stormwater from the sewer system, reduce flooding and erosion, filter pollutants, provide habitat and increase neighborhood green space.

The Concordia and Cully tree teams and the Ainsworth Street Collective were involved in planning and planting the grove. Maintenance over the years has mainly been performed by volunteers.

To reflect the many cultures represented in nearby neighborhoods, the grove includes trees from six continents. Those trees include the Chilean beech and the Moroccan snow gum. This diversity is in contrast to the maples, ornamental cherries/plums and crabapples found widespread in the city.

A similar combination of trees was not anywhere else in the city, apart from perhaps Hoyt Arboretum, according to Robert Pallesen. In 2011 he served on the Concordia Neighborhood Association Tree Team.

“We will now have a unique arborscape that will look distinctive and attractive year round,” he told The Oregonian in 2011.

Planting different types of trees in the grove also offers an opportunity to study, over time, which trees could offer shade, mitigate climate change effects and filter air pollution.

For example, current day tree team members found the cork oak tree did much better in a recent ice-storm than expected.

“The grove is important because as northeast 42nd becomes denser and more built up, urban heat island effects will become more pronounced,” said Jim Gersbach, Concordia Tree Team member.

“Expanses of tree-shaded land will become even more precious and lifesaving as cool-air refuges,” he added.

Jordana Leeb is a longtime Concordia resident who is passionate about the neighborhood, its people and trees. She lives with her partner and newly adopted special needs dog. You can see her recent film about Concordia at TinyURL.com/ DiaryOfAStreet.