Newport is starting work on a massive tree planting project. Volunteers have planted about 15 saplings on the city’s west side this summer. They will add 1,000 more over the next four years through a $1 million federal grant, aimed at increasing access to greenspace.
“Our side of the city has been a side that has not gotten a lot of attention through the course of time, and it shows through the canopy,” resident Ed Davis said.
Davis and organizations — including the West Side Citizens Coalition and ReNewport — have been trying to remedy the lack of trees in the neighborhood for nearly a decade. They’ve led community planting efforts and grown 600 new trees, a few at a time.
“In the past we have planted in the tree wells that were available for the city. We are now out of tree wells,” Davis said. “We need to cut concrete. We need to get concrete out of here.”
The grant is paying for the removal of unneeded concrete, making room for more trees along sidewalks and roads. That will increase shade and combat effects of climate change like extreme heat.
Volunteers will continue to be the ones placing saplings in the ground.
“Because we are the city,” Davis said. “This is how we're growing, and this is how we are building community in our city, and how our side of the city is becoming part of the city, even though it always has (been), but it has been a neglected part and we are changing that.”
RELATED: Newport has a grant to un-pave paradise and put up a tree lot
Newport arborist Cassandra Homan-Wall says planting the 1,000 trees on the west side will make the city more equitable.
“The research shows that greenspace is correlated to longer lives, reduced rates of cardiac disease and diabetes, less flooding, better and more successful business districts...” Homan-Wall said. “These are all things that we should all have access to.”
Newport received the million-dollar grant in 2023 from the U.S. Forest Service, as part of the federal Inflation Reduction Act.
ReNewport Executive Director Josh Tunning says it’s the largest green investment in Newport's history.
People who live on the west side can request a tree for their property by contacting the City of Newport or ReNewport.
A tree planting is scheduled for mid-October.