Client Shoutout: American Forests Tree Equity Score

Did you know that a map of tree cover in the United States is also often a map of race and income? On average, socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods and previously red-lined communities have less trees and tree cover than wealthier and predominantly white communities—and this is a racial justice and economic inequality issue that our client, national environmental and conservation nonprofit American Forests, is looking to change with their new work in tree equity.

The Tree Equity Score

Last month American Forests launched their Tree Equity Score Project, an interactive tool allowing anybody to discover for themselves whether their community has reached tree equity. Trees are critical infrastructure for our health, our climate, and our economy, and this tool tells citizens and local governments exactly where they need to plant more trees for everybody to realize the benefits of tree cover fairly. The tool is already being used across many local communities in the states to push local governments and citizens to plant more trees, and the tool was also featured in this interactive New York Times article Since When Have Trees Existed Only for Rich Americans? You can check out the Tree Equity Score for yourself and search to see if your community has reached tree equity here!

About American Forests

Founded in 1875, American Forests is our nation’s oldest nonprofit conservation organization. With a clear mission to protect and grow the health and resilience of our forests, American Forests is committed to creating a world where we can all fairly realize the environmental, economic, health, and societal benefits our forests have to offer. For their 2030 goals American Forests is focusing on planting at least 4 billion trees, helping over 100,000 individuals enter forestry jobs, and ensuring that under-resourced neighborhoods in 100 American cities reach tree equity for their citizens.

We are so excited to be partnering with American Forests both because of the amazing work they do as an organization and because climate & environmental work is one of our main focus areas here at Constructive. We can’t wait to see a future where tree equity is a reality all across the United States!