Tree San Diego's History
From tree-planting and Tree Stewards training to community engagement and workforce development, our team has provided the residents of San Diego County with all they need to know about trees, the benefits they provide, and the skills they need to care for them. We invite you to learn more about our story and how our first planting event seeded the idea (and reality!) of a greener, more sustainable future!
2014
The First Tree
It started with a seed and the idea to become the voice for our collective urban forest. That seed was planted in 2014 and lead to the growth of an environmental nonprofit that spoke for the trees. That nonprofit is Tree San Diego (TSD).
2015
Connecting with Communities
During our early years we reached out to communities throughout San Diego County to collaborate on projects. We collected data, spoke with residents, learned about the challenges of tree-planting in our region, and began making a plan to expand the urban forest.
2016
Milestone: 500 Trees
With help from agencies like CALFIRE and local municipalities, TSD received a number of environmental grants to build the region's tree care, maintenance and monitoring network through our Tree Stewards training program.
2017
Partnerships Grow
Continued support garnered by the team and resident leadership academies, TSD expanded accessibility to resources that fostered growth throughout the urban forestry sector.
2018
Milestone: 1,000 Trees
Working with community leaders, residents and volunteers from all corners of the county, we planted our 1,000th tree! We also welcomed our 50th Tree Steward!
2019
Branch Out San Diego is Born
Our first resident-focused project was outlined and proposed to state agencies to begin funding 1,500-tree planting project that also supported tree distribution directly to community members in underserved neighborhoods.
2020
Milestone: 5,000 Trees
Through projects like Trejuvenation, Tree Advantage, and Grow Native, TSD reached our milestone of planting 5,000 trees with more than 500 volunteers.
2021
Expanding Our Mission
With a new strategic plan in place, the TSD team welcomed new opportunities to explore the life cycle of trees, recycle of urban wood, and introduce new technologies like MSI and photogrammetry into project scopes.
2022
Creating Jobs
The need for an unban forestry workforce development training program was identified in 2022. Tree San Diego's Treejectory paid training program was launched to address this need. A total of 150 cohort members graduated within 18 months!
2023
Milestone: 8,000 Trees & Proclamations
On a roll, TSD celebrated our 8,000th tree planted in 2023. This particular milestone marker and event took place at a school in need of expanded tree canopy. At this time the County of San Diego gave a proclamation to designate November 15th "Tree San Diego Day."
2024
Celebrating 10 Years & 10,000 Trees
Planting our 10,000th tree is one of many milestones we reached in 2024. Of the many celebratory moments to highlight, we took pride in sending our team members to the World Forum of Urban Forests in DC, meeting President Biden on Earth Day, and receiving our first federal grant!