Nurturing Wichita's
urban tree canopy.

Wichita's tree canopy is shrinking, and the neighborhoods that feel the heat hardest have the fewest trees. We plant where it matters most, push for stronger protections at city hall, and help residents care for what's already here.

Get Involved Our Mission

Why We're Here

Wichita has ended every year for three decades with fewer trees than it started. City removals, aging giants, and new development have all taken their toll. We're here to turn that around.

18%

Of Wichita covered by tree canopy today

That number was 22% in 2018. Over eight years, Wichita lost roughly 314,000 trees. Every percentage point of canopy represents about 78,500 trees, and the pace of loss has not slowed.

Urban heat islands identified in Wichita

A 2022 NASA study found 17 neighborhoods significantly hotter than the rest of the city, most surrounding the urban core. Residents there tend to be older, younger, and lower-income. They are the people least able to cope with a climate that keeps getting hotter.

50,000

Trees removed by the city over 25 years, unreplaced

When city trees on streets, parks, and public property became hazards, crews took them down. New ones were not planted to replace them. Private development and aging trees have added hundreds of thousands more to the loss.

Why Trees Matter

The shade trees lining Wichita's streets do far more than look nice. They are working infrastructure, cooling the air, filtering pollution, and making neighborhoods healthier and more livable for everyone.

Beat the Heat

Mature shade trees significantly cool the street and yard around them. In neighborhoods already mapped as heat islands, that cooling is a lifeline for the elderly and children most at risk.

Cleaner Air

Trees pull particulates, ozone, and other pollutants out of the air every day. That benefit is greatest in dense, low-canopy neighborhoods where traffic and pavement already make air quality worse.

A Legacy You Plant Today

Trees take decades to mature. The shade that cools a street in 2045 has to go in the ground now. Every tree planted today is a gift to the next generation, one that keeps giving long after we're gone.

Stronger Neighborhoods

Canopy raises property values, cuts energy bills, and slows stormwater runoff. The neighborhoods with the least tree cover are already the most financially stressed. Growing the canopy there makes a measurable difference.

Our Work in Action

Three years of weekends, loaded truck beds, and neighbors who've been waiting years for some shade. Every photo here is a real moment from our work in Wichita's most heat-stressed neighborhoods.

We've put 213 trees in the ground, every one free to a Wichita homeowner. We're not done.

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