Cumberland River Compact (Root Nashville)
Nashville, Tennessee, United States · Nonprofit · Regional · since 1997
Nashville watershed nonprofit that runs the Root Nashville campaign to plant 500,000 trees in Davidson County by 2050
About
The Cumberland River Compact is a Nashville 501(c)(3) founded in 1997 to improve water quality in the Cumberland River basin across Tennessee and Kentucky. Since 2018 it has run day-to-day operations of Root Nashville, a public-private campaign with Metro Nashville (Metro Water Services) to plant 500,000 trees across Davidson County by 2050, delivering free native trees to residents' yards, planting streets, schools and community reforestation sites, training Neighborhood Planting Captains and watering newly planted trees. The Compact also plants riparian buffers along restored streams and tens of thousands of seedlings on former mine land in the upper basin, and runs stream cleanups, River Friendly Farms and school education programs.
What they run
Public-private campaign led by Metro Nashville and the Compact to plant 500,000 trees in Davidson County by 2050: free native trees for yards and businesses, plantings at streets, schools and community reforestation sites, Neighborhood Planting Captains, tree sponsorships and a public Tree Tracker map.
Davidson County residents order up to three large native trees each summer (orders close August 31) for free delivery and planting by the Compact's field team in fall and winter.
Plants native seedlings on formerly surface-mined land in the upper Cumberland basin (for example Hurricane Ridge) to restore forest cover and protect headwater streams.
Plants trees, seedlings and live stakes along restored stream banks in the Harpeth River and other basin watersheds to rebuild riparian buffers.
Trees by type of work
| Activity | Trees | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 🌲 Reforestation | 81,723 | 2025 |
| 🏙️ Urban forestry | 62,975 | 2023–2026 |
Only figures attached to a named program count here. Organization-wide totals sit in the table below.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteers engaged | 2025 | 1,030 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceYear in Review 2025: 'total number of volunteers: 1,030' across cleanups, plantings and other Compact events (2024 review reported 1,422 volunteers) |
| Trees planted | 2023 | 5,298 | Root Nashville | Self-reported | sourceCompact's Year in Review 2023 (Jan 22 2024): '5,298 trees were planted in Davidson County alone as a part of Root Nashville' |
| Trees planted | 2025 | 7,118 | Root Nashville | Self-reported | sourceCompact's Year in Review 2025 (Feb 2 2026): 'Root Nashville trees planted by the Compact in 2025: 7,118'; also 'Root Nashville trees watered by the Compact: 6,102' |
| Trees plantedto date | 2026 | 62,975 | Root Nashville | Self-reported | sourceNashville Scene, Green Issue, April 9 2026, relaying the campaign's own count: Root Nashville has planted 62,975 trees as of April 1, 2026, since launching in 2018 (rootnashville.org's own counter renders as 0 without JavaScript) |
| Trees planted | 2025 | 47,350 | Mine Land Reforestation | Self-reported | sourceYear in Review 2025: 'seedlings planted at mine land reforestation sites: 47,350' and 'Acres of mine land reforested by the Compact in 2025: 80' |
| Trees planted | 2025 | 34,373 | Stream Restoration riparian plantings | Self-reported | sourceYear in Review 2025: 'Trees, seedlings, and live stakes planted along streams in 2025: 34,373' (Harpeth River watershed and other stream restoration sites) |
How they report
What earned it
- 10/20 Publishes annual tree figures: 2 years of annual figures on record (5 points each, up to 4 years)
- 15/15 Figures are recent: Latest annual figure is for 2025
- 10/10 Every figure has a public source: 6 of 6 figures link to a source
- 0/15 Publishes financials or cost per tree: No financial figure recorded
- 0/15 Reports survival or monitoring: No survival or monitoring figure
- 0/10 Independently verified figure: All figures are the organization's own
- 10/10 Breaks figures down by program: Figures attached to named programs
- 5/5 Reports volunteers or events: Volunteer figures on record
- Latest annual figure
- 88,841 trees in 2025
- Trees per volunteer
- 86.3 in 2025
- Compare
- Put Cumberland River Compact (Root Nashville) next to others · method
Upcoming events
- Fall Volunteer Tree PlantingRegisterSat, Nov 21, 2026, 9:00 AM CST · Volunteer planting · Nashville
- Common Ground: A Farm Field Day Celebrating Land, Water & CommunityRegisterSat, Nov 21, 2026, 12:00 PM CST · Other · Nashville
- Town Creek Tributary Cleanup and Critter ExplorationRegisterSat, Dec 5, 2026, 10:00 AM CST · Other · Gallatin