Releaf Petaluma

ReLeaf Petaluma has an exciting and ambitious planting season ahead. We kicked off our season on October 21 with a Pod Leader training event. A pod is ReLeaf’s term for a group of 8-10 volunteers that work together to complete an assigned area. We planted eight beautiful redwood trees at Grant Park while simultaneously training our Pod Leaders on best practices for tree planting, group leadership skills, and more. It was a wonderful day to head into our season.

ReLeaf is the grateful recipient of a new grant award of $62,000 from CAL FIRE and California ReLeaf, thanks to California Climate Investments, to add 103 native shade trees to 5 parks, and 95 large and small trees to 4 secondary schools, all of which greatly need the canopy cover. Anna’s Meadow, La Tercera, Turnbridge, and Fox Hollow parks will gain a total of 87 trees. On the Westside, the wind-protected and fog-prone Grant Park gains eight coast redwoods (planted in October), adding to six others already on the site to create a beautiful redwood grove. ReLeaf will be participating in the Urban Forest Management Grant from CAL FIRE, also thanks to California Climate Investments, planting 77 young shade trees at Wiseman, Miwok, and Arroyo parks.

ReLeaf grant writers and the City of Petaluma were honored to win a one million dollar grant funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service! Funds will be used to plant about 2,500 trees in Petaluma over 4 years. These native trees, which will be planted in parks, schools, residential areas, and riparian corridors, will be a long-term benefit to Petaluma residents. The tree canopy will buffer our town from increasing temperatures, our water and air will be cleaner, and we’ve given biodiversity a home. In addition, the money will fund a native oak restoration program of over 1,000 local native oak trees grown from acorns with the help of ReLeaf Petaluma’s Teen Tree Corps. Our other partners on this program include Point Blue Conservation Science, Daily Acts, Rebuilding Together, Cool Petaluma, San Francisco Estuary Institute, and the United Church of Christ. For more details, read the City of Petaluma’s press release: https://cityofpetaluma.org/petaluma-urban-canopy-project-grant/

For more information: www.releafpetaluma.org