{"slug":"trees-for-seattle","name":"Trees for Seattle","tagline":"The City of Seattle's interdepartmental urban forestry program, home of the Trees for Neighborhoods free tree giveaway","description":"Trees for Seattle is the City of Seattle's umbrella urban forestry program, coordinating Seattle Public Utilities, Transportation, Parks and Recreation, City Light, Construction and Inspections and the Office of Sustainability and Environment. Its Trees for Neighborhoods program, run by Seattle Public Utilities since 2009, gives residents up to three free trees a year with planting workshops, permits and watering reminders, and has planted over 16,400 trees at homes, schools and along streets. The program also runs Tree Steward work parties and volunteer-led tree walks, grows trees at the Cedar City urban tree nursery, and reports on the Green Seattle Partnership's restoration of forested parkland with Forterra.","website_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/trees","logo_url":null,"founded_year":null,"org_type":"government","scope":"local","headquarters":{"city":"Seattle","region":"Washington","country":"US","lat":47.6062,"lng":-122.3321},"volunteer_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/trees/get-involved/trees-for-seattle-volunteers","donation_url":null,"events_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/trees/get-involved/events","featured":false,"trees_on_record":61811,"primary_activity":"urban-forestry","activities":[{"slug":"urban-forestry","name":"Urban forestry","primary":true},{"slug":"reforestation","name":"Reforestation","primary":false},{"slug":"tree-adoption-giveaway","name":"Tree adoption & giveaways","primary":false},{"slug":"nursery-seedling-production","name":"Nurseries & seedlings","primary":false},{"slug":"tree-care-maintenance","name":"Tree care & maintenance","primary":false},{"slug":"education-advocacy","name":"Education & advocacy","primary":false}],"updated_at":"2026-11-08T00:02:16.194Z","url":"https://treerm.org/org/trees-for-seattle","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/org/trees-for-seattle.md","api_url":"https://treerm.org/api/v1/organizations/trees-for-seattle","data_note":"The most recent Trees for Seattle accomplishments report that can be read as text is for 2020 (the 2021 report is an image-only PDF and no later reports are posted), so the annual figures here are from 2018 and 2020: City departments planted 1,690 trees in 2018 and 1,902 in 2020, and Green Seattle Partnership seedling plantings fell from 46,373 in 2018 to 12,536 in 2020. The Trees for Neighborhoods cumulative total of over 16,400 trees since 2009 is the only current figure on the city's pages.","derived":{"annual_trees":[{"year":2020,"value":1902}],"latest_annual":{"year":2020,"value":1902},"yoy":null,"cagr":null,"dollars_raised_per_tree":null,"cost_per_tree":null,"trees_per_volunteer":null,"survival":{"value":88,"year":2026,"confidence":"reported"},"hectares":null,"transparency":{"score":40,"label":"Partly documented","points":[{"key":"annual","label":"Publishes annual tree figures","earned":5,"max":20,"why":"1 year of annual figures on record (5 points each, up to 4 years)"},{"key":"recent","label":"Figures are recent","earned":0,"max":15,"why":"Latest annual figure is for 2020"},{"key":"sourced","label":"Every figure has a public source","earned":10,"max":10,"why":"6 of 6 figures link to a source"},{"key":"money","label":"Publishes financials or cost per tree","earned":0,"max":15,"why":"No financial figure recorded"},{"key":"survival","label":"Reports survival or monitoring","earned":15,"max":15,"why":"Survival rate on record"},{"key":"verified","label":"Independently verified figure","earned":0,"max":10,"why":"All figures are the organization's own"},{"key":"programs","label":"Breaks figures down by program","earned":10,"max":10,"why":"Figures attached to named programs"},{"key":"people","label":"Reports volunteers or events","earned":0,"max":5,"why":"No volunteer figures or events"}]},"methodology":"https://treerm.org/methodology"},"countries":["US"],"social_links":{"instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/treesforseattle","facebook":"https://www.facebook.com/treesforseattle/"},"programs":[{"slug":"trees-for-neighborhoods","name":"Trees for Neighborhoods","activity":"tree-adoption-giveaway","description":"Free trees (up to three per year, six per property lifetime) for Seattle residents to plant in yards and planting strips, with a July application window, fall planting workshops, street tree permit help, October-November delivery and summer watering reminders.","url":"https://www.seattle.gov/trees/planting-and-care/trees-for-neighborhoods","started_year":2009,"ended_year":null},{"slug":"green-seattle-partnership","name":"Green Seattle Partnership","activity":"reforestation","description":"Partnership between the City of Seattle and Forterra restoring forested parkland and natural areas by removing invasive plants and planting native tree seedlings with volunteers and professional crews.","url":"https://www.seattle.gov/trees/restoration","started_year":null,"ended_year":null},{"slug":"tree-stewards","name":"Trees for Seattle Volunteers (Tree Stewards and Tree Walks)","activity":"tree-care-maintenance","description":"Volunteer work parties on public land to remove ivy, mulch, water and plant trees, plus volunteer-led public tree walks; groups of 10 to 30 can arrange their own work party.","url":"https://www.seattle.gov/trees/get-involved/trees-for-seattle-volunteers","started_year":null,"ended_year":null},{"slug":"urban-tree-nursery","name":"Urban Tree Nursery (Cedar City)","activity":"nursery-seedling-production","description":"City tree care facility where volunteers help raise young trees that become yard and street trees.","url":"https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/protecting-our-environment/community-programs/trees-for-neighborhoods/urban-tree-nursery","started_year":null,"ended_year":null}],"metrics":[{"metric_type":"trees_planted","year":2020,"value":1902,"is_cumulative":false,"program":null,"source_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/Trees/Mangement/ProgressReports/T4S2020accomplishmentsReportFinal.pdf","source_note":"Trees for Seattle 2020 Accomplishments Report, p.1: '1,902 Trees planted throughout Seattle by City departments' (also 8,717 trees maintained, 25,923 volunteer hours)","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"survival_rate_pct","year":2026,"value":88,"is_cumulative":false,"program":"trees-for-neighborhoods","source_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/protecting-our-environment/community-programs/trees-for-neighborhoods/get-a-free-tree","source_note":"Get a Free Tree page: survival rate of '88% ten years after planting' for Trees for Neighborhoods trees (accessed Nov 2026)","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_distributed","year":2020,"value":1000,"is_cumulative":false,"program":"trees-for-neighborhoods","source_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/Trees/Mangement/ProgressReports/T4S2020accomplishmentsReportFinal.pdf","source_note":"Trees for Seattle 2020 Accomplishments Report, p.2: Trees for Neighborhoods 'Providing 1,000 free trees every year and support for Seattle residents to plant in their yards'","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_distributed","year":2026,"value":16400,"is_cumulative":true,"program":"trees-for-neighborhoods","source_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/trees/planting-and-care/trees-for-neighborhoods","source_note":"'Since 2009, the Trees for Neighborhoods planting program has helped Seattle plant over 16,400 trees at homes, schools, businesses, gathering places, and along streets' (accessed Nov 2026)","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_planted","year":2018,"value":46373,"is_cumulative":false,"program":"green-seattle-partnership","source_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/Trees/Mangement/ProgressReports/UFMPProgressReport2018.pdf","source_note":"Urban Forest Management Plan 2018 Progress Report ('Our 2018 Accomplishments'): '46,373 native tree seedlings planted by the Green Seattle Partnership'; the same report gives '1,690 trees planted throughout Seattle by City departments' and '78,000 volunteer hours'","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_planted","year":2020,"value":12536,"is_cumulative":false,"program":"green-seattle-partnership","source_url":"https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/Trees/Mangement/ProgressReports/T4S2020accomplishmentsReportFinal.pdf","source_note":"Trees for Seattle 2020 Accomplishments Report, p.1: '12,536 native tree seedlings planted by the Green Seattle Partnership' (1,845 acres of forested parkland under restoration)","confidence":"reported"}],"upcoming_events":[],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}