Community Tree Stewards Program

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Join an upcoming cohort!

Why trees?

Nature-based solutions are part of the strategy to cool cities. The World Resources Institute describes nature-based solutions as interventions using nature and natural functions of healthy ecosystems to address social, economic, and environmental challenges while also benefiting human well-being and biodiversity. Increasing the number of trees in Tempe will help cool the city, enhance wildlife habitat, and provide shade and other environmental benefits to promote a healthy urban lifestyle for residents and visitors. This requires thoughtful species selection and strategic planting, and ensuring proper care and maintenance.

Sign up to be a Tree Steward

Do you love trees? Do you want to see more trees in your neighborhood? Do you want to connect with neighbors to help support your neighborhood’s urban forest, or are you interested in exploring career options in urban forestry?

If you answered yes to the above questions and live in the neighborhoods highlighted on the map below, you are eligible to join the Community Tree Stewards Program with the City of Tempe and RAIL CDC. Participants will learn about urban forestry, tree biology, community engagement, tree care, and careers with trees, and will host a tree planting event. Funding and programmatic support are provided by Urban Nature and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

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As a Tree Steward, you will:

Join 8 in-person workshops with classroom and field activities (2-3 hours each)
Earn $20/hour for all sessions attended, plus an additional limited number of hours of engagement in the community
Receive a set of planting tools for each steward to keep and use ($500 value, one set per household)

The Tree Stewards Program will take place over three years with six cohorts in the following communities:

Fall 2024: Tempe East Neighborhoods (including Alegre, Escalante, University Heights, Victory Acres, and Apache-Price) - Cohort is full
Spring 2025: Baseline-Hardy Neighborhood and the Town of Guadalupe - Cohort is full
Fall 2025: Tempe East Neighborhoods (including Alegre, Escalante, University Heights, Victory Acres and Apache-Price) - Cohort is full
Spring 2026: Baseline-Hardy Neighborhood and the Town of Guadalupe - 15 spots available
Fall 2026: Tempe East Neighborhoods (including Alegre, Escalante, University Heights, Victory Acres and Apache-Price) - 15 spots available
Spring 2027: Baseline-Hardy Neighborhood and the Town of Guadalupe - 15 spots available

Click here to register

Click below for more detailed maps of Tree Stewards Neighborhoods, additional program information, and more tree-sources.

Tempe East Neighborhoods

Guadalupe and Tempe West Neighborhood

Resources for Urban Forests

Don’t live in the Tree Stewards area but still want to support urban forestry in Tempe?

Tempe has an established Urban Forestry Team to provide information and guidance. Here are some ways you can support Tempe trees:

Plant a tree on your property! The City of Tempe offers rebates on desert-adapted trees (see “Tempe tree incentives”), and SRP offers free shade trees.
Take the online Tree Care Class to learn how to care for trees.
- Tempe’s Water Conservation team has a video library full of helpful tree planting and maintenance content as well.
Become a Rain to Roots Ambassador to learn more about rainwater harvesting efforts in Tempe.
Keep an eye on the Sustainable Living Workshop series presented by the Tempe Water Department.
Attend educational events about tree stewardship which will be open to all Tempe residents (think Bird walks, BioBlitz, etc).
- Sign up here under “Parks and Recreation -> Tree Stewards Program” so we can let you know when events are happening.

Funding and Contact

Questions?

Contact Kaci Fankhauser, Community Greening Program Coordinator, Kaci_Fankhauser@tempe.gov.

Funding for this project is provided by Urban Nature, a $5 million Justice40 initiative led by ASU’s Rob & Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service and funded through the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program, part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additional funding and program support is possible through an Arizona Department of Fire and Forest Management and USDA Forest Service IRA grant to the Community Services Department.

USDA Forest Service, Arizona State University, and the City of Tempe, are equal opportunity providers and employers.

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About Growing Together

Thanks to funding from the USDA Forest Service, Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, and ASU’s Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, the City of Tempe in collaboration with RAIL CDC has developed a Community Tree Stewards Program and an agroforestry pilot project to promote community wealth-building and expand equitable urban cooling and resilience to extreme heat. Driven by research on heat vulnerability and recent investments in local food and green stormwater infrastructure, these human-centered, nature-based solutions will expand tree canopy coverage, economic opportunity, and food access while centering Tempe neighborhoods that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Goals:

Expand (and maintain) the urban tree canopy in Tempe, making progress toward the city’s 25% tree canopy coverage goal by 2040.
Promote equitable urban cooling and resilience to extreme heat by centering programs on neighborhoods with the highest vulnerability to heat and the lowest tree canopy coverage.
Create workforce development opportunities (pathways to employment with public, private, or self-started businesses) by creating opportunities for urban forestry education, job skills training, certification completion, and entrepreneurship support.
Utilize climate-adapted urban forestry practices in the selection, planting, and maintenance of trees on both public and private property.
Leverage the city’s commitment to nature-based solutions to find synergies between urban forestry, green stormwater infrastructure, and urban agriculture efforts.