Residents embrace new trees as Detroit revitalizes green spaces

DETROIT – There was much excitement in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on Detroit’s east side.

Many community members and supporters gathered around Bailey Park on Monday (Oct. 28) to celebrate a milestone.

The group celebrated planting the 25,000th tree under an ambitious program.

“It’s about tree equity,” said Katrina Watkins with the Bailey Park Neighborhood Development Corporation. “Neighborhoods like McDougal-Hunt, we have a lack of trees. And there’s a lack of tree equity and park equity. And that’s the type of equity that we’re trying to create.”

The Detroit Tree Equity Program is part of a public-private partnership that launched in 2022 between the city of Detroit, a nonprofit called The Greening of Detroit, DTE, and other agencies.

The partnership’s goal is to advance urban forestry.

“Just two years in, the project has had enormous impact already,” said Lionel Bradford of The Greening of Detroit.

The project’s plan is three-fold, according to Bradford. It aims to:

• Ultimately, plant more than 75,000 trees

• Train residents on tree care and maintenance, and

• Raise and invest millions of dollars in the neighborhoods most in need of a tree canopy

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, who chairs the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, strongly supports the urban tree equity initiative.

“We know this is more than just about trees and planting trees,” said Stabenow. “It’s about people. It’s about communities and neighborhoods.”

Residents are optimistic the partnership will reach its goal of planting 75,000 trees.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said city crews were busy cutting thousands of dead trees a while back.

Now, he said the requests from many neighbors are far different.

“Now, when I’m in the neighborhoods, they’re not saying, ‘Cut down trees,’” said Duggan. “They’re saying, ‘Can we have those new trees that you guys are out there doing.’”

Click here for more information about the Detroit Tree Equity Program or how to get involved.