Urban Corps Joins City of La Mesa for Tree Planting Event

Join Urban Corps of San Diego County (Urban Corps), City of La Mesa and Tree San Diego for a community tree planting event on Friday, September 24, 2021, 10:30 a.m. at Aztec Park in La Mesa. This free event will give residents an opportunity to plant and learn about proper care and maintenance of trees while helping to build our urban forest.

“The City of La Mesa is excited to partner with Urban Corps of San Diego County to plant 350 new shade trees in our parks and residential neighborhoods. These efforts support the City’s Climate Action Plan which establishes a community-wide goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half and grow La Mesa’s tree canopy 15 percent by 2035,” said Hilary Ego, Environmental Program Manager. “The City of La Mesa welcomes residents and employees of nearby businesses to join the event and help us plant trees in the community.”

In May 2019, Urban Corps was awarded $1.253 million in Proposition 68 funding from CAL Fire’s Urban and Community Forestry’s Urban Forest Expansion and Improvement grant to plant 2,000 trees throughout San Diego County. To date, Urban Corps has planted a total of 1,800 trees including a 150 trees in La Mesa.

Urban Corp’s San Diego County Urban Forestry and Arboriculture Project has a total of seven partners including the cities of San Diego, Imperial Beach, Vista, Encinitas and La Mesa along with the Rancho Santa Fe Association. All partners have agreed to receive trees and are working with Urban Corps on appropriate species, location and proper maintenance. Urban Corps also is partnering with Tree San Diego, a local nonprofit whose mission is to increase tree canopy in San Diego to provide training for Urban Corps staff.

For more information on the San Diego County Urban Forestry and Arboriculture Project or the Urban Corps’ Urban Forestry department, please contact Lauren Welch at 619-235-6884 or email lwelch@urbancorps.org.

About the Urban Corps of San Diego County

Urban Corps of San Diego County is a certified local conservation corps and charter school whose mission is to provide young adults aged 18-26 with the tools to expand their career opportunities while earning a high school diploma. We do this through education, life skills training and paid work experience on projects that benefit our community. To join Urban Corps or for more information, visit www.urbancorpssd.org