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Chicago Region Trees Initiative

History and Impact of the Chicago Region Trees Initiative

Leading the way to healthy, sustainable, and equitable urban forests.

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Through the Chicago Region Trees Initiative, The Morton Arboretum and partners work to ensure that trees are healthier, more abundant, more diverse, and more equitably distributed to provide important benefits to all who live in the Chicago region and throughout Illinois.

History

The Chicago Region Trees Initiative was established in 2014 by The Morton Arboretum in partnership with Openlands after the first comprehensive Chicago region tree census revealed an urban forest facing multiple threats.

Since its founding, the initiative has partnered with and facilitated collaboration among more than 500 organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to inspire tree stewards and build municipal capacity and support for trees, with a focus on environmental equity and disadvantaged communities. It is the largest statewide urban and community forestry initiative in the country.

Impact

CRTI inspires, collaborates with, and provides information and technical assistance to tree stewards and advocates. It helps municipalities and other agencies gain expertise, training, and funding to plant and care for trees. This work improves the resilience of the urban forest to make communities healthier, more livable, and more climate-resilient. The program also leverages its partnership network to secure and allocate federal, state, private, and corporate funding so that the places where people live have more trees that are better maintained.

CRTI contributes to The Morton Arboretum’s impact by:

  • Inspiring tree stewards through workshops and local events such as tree plantings.
  • Building the capacity of communities to manage their trees so they have a tree canopy that makes them more resilient, healthier, and more livable.
  • Strengthening the Arboretum’s efforts to conserve oak trees, which are keystone species critical to healthy natural areas across Illinois, with significant cultural value to local communities.
  • Creating robust and diverse urban forests that mitigate the impacts of climate change.

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CRTI Programs

CRTI Programs

CRTI Programs

CRTI offers an Urban Forestry Basic Training program with the Illinois Arborist Association (IAA) twice a year that provides foundational forestry training to nonarborists and municipal workers who work on and near trees.

CRTI work groups bring together interested stakeholders on specific topics such as forest composition, trees and green infrastructure, tree risk assessment and management, and tree stewardship and planting.

CRTI organizes or provides technical assistance for dozens of tree plantings each year, alongside its many community partners.

Grants and other funding opportunities for projects such as tree planting and removal, tree inventories, and other urban forestry initiatives can be accessed through CRTI, along with technical assistance for the application process.

Tree preservation ordinance and tree management plan recommendations are offered for municipalities, townships, counties, park districts, homeowner’s associations, and other landowners and managers to help protect and preserve trees.

Tree data for communities in the Chicago region are presented in CRTI’s Community Tree Canopy Summaries, which address tree distribution, equity, and opportunities for forestry improvements in the region.

OAKtober, Oak Awareness Month in October, is celebrated across the state with public events. CRTI leads the Chicago region’s Oak Ecosystem Recovery Project.