Urban Corps Of San Diego County To Plant Shade Trees In La Mesa

LA MESA, CA — The Urban Corps of San Diego County, representatives from La Mesa and Tree San Diego will host a community tree planting event Friday at 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," said Hilary Ego, Environmental Program Manager for the city. "These efforts support the city's Climate Action Plan which establishes a communitywide goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half and grow La Mesa's tree canopy 15% by 2035."

In May 2019, Urban Corps was awarded $1.25 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 1,800 trees — including 150 trees in La Mesa.

"The City of La Mesa welcomes residents and employees of nearby businesses to join the event and help us plant trees in the community," Ego said.

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.

— City News Service