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It's been a hot week

As Boston swelters under one of the hottest June's in recent memory, residents experience this heat very differently. Wealthier communities, with more trees, are 10 degrees cooler than their tree-desert neighbors. It seems like every time we open the paper there's a new study that discusses the Tree Inequity across US cities. This week was a piece in the New York Times written by our colleague Ian Leahy at American Forests (see below) and an op-ed written by Senator Cynthia Stone Creem from Newton about her bill, filed with Rep. Lori Ehrlich, for a Municipal Reforestry program to bring urban trees to communities where they're most needed. We'll keep you posted about a fall symposium that we're planning with Gas Leaks Allies to share more about Creem and Elrich's bill.

Meanwhile, next week 20 teens will join us for our 3rd Teen Urban Tree Corps program. Stay tuned to hear about their work as they look to bring Tree Equity to their local neighborhoods - whether it be Dorchester, Mattapan, Allston, or Charlestown. They're inheriting this future, and we hope to provide them with the skills and knowledge to bring about lasting change. We invite you to reach out to learn more and meet them out in the field.


Meet our Teen Urban Tree Corps Team Leaders
Izzy Essman

Izzy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri in a house shaded by dogwoods, wild persimmons, and massive oaks. She is a rising senior at Tufts University studying English and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; outside of school, Izzy is an enthusiastic pollinator gardener and amateur pizza maker. She is excited to work with Boston youth to strengthen their relationships to nature and advocate for leafier neighborhoods.

Niamh Bayliss

Niamh is a rising senior at Wellesley College, where she studies Environmental Studies and Latin American Studies. She grew up in Newton, MA, and developed a love of trees and the environment by hiking in New England’s forests throughout her youth. She has fostered that interest through deforestation, environmental justice, and climate change research. She is excited to be interning with Speak for the Trees this summer to advocate for tree equity and help youth consider the significance of urban forests in our community.

Meet our Summer Fundraising Intern
TaNoah Pierre

TaNoah’s interests in healthcare and in social justice have guided her to study Neuroscience and Global Black Studies at UMass Amherst. Her love for trees directly comes from her knowledge of their indispensability for a completely habitable, fair world. Witnessing deforestation and environmental inequality both in Haiti, where she grew up, and in Boston, where she now lives, has left her worried about the future of our environment. This is why she values the work done by Speak for the Trees and is thrilled to be able to contribute to it as an intern. In addition to fundraising assistance, she'll be helping with translation of material into Haitian Kreyol.


"Since When Have Trees Existed Only for Rich Americans?"

This week the new York Times published a piece about income and tree canopy coverage. Using data from American Forests Tree Equity Score Explorer, we see firsthand how systemic disinvestment has caused a tree crisis decades in the making. As Ian Leahy from American Forests writes how, using their Tree Equity Scorer tool, researchers have been able to analyze these neighborhoods and draw conclusions such as how "neighborhoods with a majority of people in poverty have 25 percent less tree canopy on average than those with a minority of people in poverty". Read the New York Times article to visualize this information with graphs and interactive maps. Using our Tree Equity map, see how the inequity plays out in Boston - putting poorer residents at risk for heat stroke and other public health benefits.

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