Portland, Oregon: "A City Full Of Trees"

"A City Full Of Trees" 

The urban city of Portland, Oregon is home to a plethora of plants, trees, and wildlife species. Various trees and plants line the cityscape and surround several, if not most homes in Portland, Oregon, providing the city with several benefits including: shade, air filtration, less runoff, increased property values, and so much more.  Members of portlandoregon.gov summarize several benefits of trees on their website Portland Oregon Trees and video:

See also Treespeople.org: Top 22 Benefits of Trees

In the 2007 Portland’s Urban Forest Canopy Assessment and Public Tree Evaluation,

they summarize some of the economic benefits of trees in the urban environment. Here are some of their highlights:

1. The entire urban canopy on Portland Oregon was valued near $5 billion

2. For every dollar invested in maintain and providing tress, $3.80 in benefits was returned

3. Portland’s street and park trees provided $980, 000 worth of air cleaning and carbon fixing services

4. The trees provided a savings of nearly $36 million in storm water processing fees

5. The overall benefits of the urban canopy exceeded $38 million and is expected to grow

With trees in the urban environment providing so many benefits on the economic, environmental, social, and personal health levels, it is important to know that maintaining these trees and urban environments takes individual and community effort.

The Forest Park Conservancy project in Portland is working with the community, environmental specialists, and thousands of volunteers to educate the public and help restore & conserve Portland’s Forest Park.  Here is how you can Donate and/or Volunteer.

The first step in urban naturalization is awareness. Take part in restoring and conserving your cities urban landscape.