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Forestry and Agriculture

Sustainability - Trees

Trees Improve Our Quality of Life

As a strong believer in the benefits trees provide to our quality of life, Mayor Chávez promotes planting and caring for trees in Albuquerque.

"I am particularly impressed with Mayor Chávez's initiative.

He is committed to trees in Albuquerque and rightly so. We found in our study that the city’s trees are dramatically improving urban life and making Albuquerque a more enjoyable place to live, work, shop, and play.

Over the years, the people in Albuquerque have invested millions of dollars in the municipal forest. Citizens are now receiving a return on that investment."Source: Dr. Greg McPherson, Director of the Center for Urban Forest Research

Take Action
The best thing you can do is plant trees at your home or business.

Find out which trees are best for you.

Reduce pollen by avoiding restricted trees.

Take care of your trees. Learn how!

Teach your kids about trees. Explore Albuquerque Parks and Open Spaces.

Use a permeable paving surface to let water seep into the ground around your trees.

Plant a green roof to reduce the "heat island effect" in Albuquerque.

More ideas >>

Planting the right trees in the right places can have positive environmental, economic, and sociological impacts.

That's why Mayor Chávez is taking trees seriously.

What is Mayor Chávez Doing?

"We are ready to design the future of trees in the City of Albuquerque." - Mayor Martin Chávez

cottonwoods

Mayor Chávez has launched a major Urban Forest Improvement Initiative to take advantage of all the ways trees help Albuquerque. Here's what he's done so far:

Trees in the Urban Landscape - The City of Albuquerque plants trees in parks, medians, and streetscapes. Planting a variety of tree species provide both visual interest and functional benefits. Trees provide shade, help to keep Albuquerque’s air clean, and provide visual diversity to the desert landscape.
Planting Shade Trees -- The City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department has worked with the U.S. Forest Service to create a Master Plan to guide and direct the City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department determined the desired goal of 60% canopy cover.
To achieve this goal, it was determined that 11,000 trees appropriately placed with sufficient species diversity will provide for the future of Albuquerque's parks and overall urban forest.
Bio-diverse Landscape - As Albuquerque strives to reduce water use and convert to a natural landscape, many park sites will be improved while conserving valuable resources and reducing maintenance needs. Since the mid 1980's, The Parks Department has reduced total water use while adding many new parks.
Master Planning - The Mayor promoted efforts to develop a master plan for City trees as well as manuals on Tree Protection and Care. He also asked the Parks and Recreation department to complete a comprehensive inventory of trees in parks and street medians.
Expert Advice - Mayor Chávez asked the USDA Forest Service Center for Urban Forest Research to develop a Municipal Forest Resource Analysis for Albuquerque. View the full report >>
Community Building - The TreeCentennial program has given away over 3,000 trees for planting in Albuquerque in honor of our 300th birthday.
Dedication - The City hired a City Forester to help design and manage the living trees that make our city a healthy place to live.