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Urban Forest Initiative Celebrates 100th Improved Tree Bed in Downtown Denver
- Downtown Denver Partnership
- Oct 2, 2023
- 2 min read
Downtown-focused initiative to increase tree canopy hits milestoneDENVER – October 2, 2023 – Today, the Downtown Denver Partnership (Partnership), in partnership with the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District (BID) and City and County of Denver’s Office of the City Forester, celebrated the 100th tree bed improved as part of the Urban Forest Initiative (UFI), a collaborative effort to grow Denver’s urban forest through education, built infrastructure and maintenance. The UFI program seeks to support downtown’s urban canopy by providing trees with the planting environment needed to support long term growth. This includes giving each tree more growing space, adding protective fences, and installing raised curbs. The 100th tree bed was enlarged at the dead end of Delgany Streets between 15th Street and the Cherry Creek, in partnership with the Delgany Street Maintenance District. “A healthy tree canopy is transformative for a city’s public realm and its people, and we are proud to have hit this exciting milestone of the Urban Forest Initiative’s 100th tree bed this month,” said Kourtny Garrett, President & CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, “Our downtown trees are increasingly important in our efforts revitalize downtown, providing impactful benefits to people and business and meaningfully contributing to our city’s sustainability and environmental goals.” “A healthy tree canopy in Downtown Denver is imperative to the livelihood of residents and businesses alike,” said Happy Haynes, former Executive Director of Parks and Recreation. “As part of The Outdoor Downtown Master Plan and our system-wide Game Plan for a Healthy City, today’s milestone reflects significant progress toward our goal of increasing Downtown tree canopy from 4% to 10% coverage. This initiative not only advances our climate change and environmental resiliency goals, but will contribute to the city’s built environment that reflects our outdoor culture and character.” Dense urban tree canopies and urban forestry efforts are shown to strengthen communities and social cohesion, contribute to overall health and emotional well-being, in addition to positively impacting economic and environmental conditions:
the average percent-increase in revenue for businesses on tree-lined streets
the average percent-decrease in crime for every 10% increase in tree canopy
a city’s expected return on investment for ever $1 invested in urban forestry
the decrease in temperature on tree canopied streets
the decrease in ozone for every 10% increase in tree canopy
the expected reduction in particulates from car exhaust fumes on tree-lined streets
The Urban Forest Initiative is funded by Denver Parks and Recreation, the Downtown Denver Partnership, the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, Bank of America, the Kaiser Permanente Community Health Fund at the Denver Foundation, FirstBank, The Nature Conservancy, the Zoellner Family Foundation, The Gates Family Foundation and by the generosity of dozens of individual donors.
Companies and individuals interested in investing in the Urban Forest Initiative, and property owners interested in grant opportunities should contact Amanda Miller, Manager of Sustainability Initiatives at the Downtown Denver Partnership at
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For more information on the Urban Forest Initiative, visit urbanforestdenver.com, and click here to contribute to the initiative today.
