These 10 Tacoma schools could benefit the most from planting more trees, study shows
Tacoma has made serious strides toward getting greener in recent months. Now new research shows which 10 schools could use some major tree-canopy love.
The Tacoma Tree Foundation on March 31 unveiled a list of the Tacoma schools that could benefit most from tree planting. The analysis was conducted by the foundation’s partners in Washington State University’s Ravenholt Urban Forest Health Lab.
The 10 priority schools listed in the ranking are:
Mann Elementary School
Arlington Elementary School
Edison Elementary School
Boze Elementary School
Giaudrone Middle School
First Creek Middle School
IDEA High School
Willie Stewart High School
Lincoln High School
Mount Tahoma High School
The Tacoma Tree Foundation has benefited from a $350,000 grant to plant 600 trees over three years along residential streets, The News Tribune previously reported. The city of Tacoma and its partnering nonprofits are receiving $1.3 million in grants to plant more trees and provide greater shade to local students.
While the Tacoma-school analysis wasn’t formally commissioned, researchers sought to offer a sort of road map for future tree equity. These 10 locations could use more trees, but it’s not like the campuses themselves are to blame, noted Joey Hulbert with the Department of Plant Pathology at the WSU Research and Extension Center in Puyallup.
“We live in Tacoma, and Tacoma has a lot of needs. And if we only have a limited amount of resources, where should we spend those resources first?” Hulbert told The News Tribune. “So we’re thinking about this in an equitable lens: If we can help, let’s figure out which schools would be the best to invest in first.”
Proponents of the greening efforts point out that canopies aid in cutting back on the effects of heatwaves. Trees improve the quality of air and help to prevent pollutants from entering the waterways.
The five metrics used in the research included air temperature, street trees, urban tree canopy coverage, data from the state’s Environmental Health Disparities Map and values from the city’s Equity Index Map. Tacoma Tree Foundation pointed out that some factors used in the study, such as urban-heat data and canopy coverage, were logged in 2018.
More trees around Tacoma schools would also help folks in the surrounding neighborhoods, the Tacoma Tree Foundation noted in an Instagram post about the study.
“When we think of some of the most ideal places to plant trees in Tacoma to increase tree equity for future generations, schools are at the top of our list,” the foundation wrote. “The reasons include the immediate benefits they provide to students, such as cleaner air, green spaces to play and socialize in, increased focus, and general mental and emotional wellbeing.”
