About Us | ________________________________________________________________________________ Our Mission To foster and inspire an increased, more balanced tree canopy in the Valley of the Sun Our Vision a Valley where all people and all generations have lifelong access to the benefits of trees Who is Trees Matter?
Trees Matter is a Phoenix-based 501(c)(3) environmental education nonprofit. We see a need to provide important resources to the general public so they can properly choose trees, plant trees, care for trees, and of course advocate for trees. We hope to encourage a culture of tree advocates and stewards. What We Do
Trees offer many critical functions such as shade, pollution reduction, dust reduction, food, increased property value, carbon sequestration, increase in mental and physical health, and more. The Valley has an immediate need for an increased tree canopy; Trees Matter works to alleviate this need by educating the public on tree knowledge, and distributing desert-adapted shade trees to residents across the Valley, and planting trees on school campuses and within communities in need. To learn about our programs and the impact they make, visit our programs page! About Our Name A note about our past, our present, and our future. After deliberate and thoughtful consideration, the Board of Valley Permaculture Alliance decided to acknowledge the organization’s increasingly tree-centric focus and decided to become the Valley’s premier tree organization. The Board is committed to creating an organization that continues VPA’s experience working with diverse stakeholders to build social justice through the environment. By building an organization that addresses the Valley’s need to expand and maintain its shade tree canopy, we are seeking alliances and developing programs that are at the intersection of environmental advocacy and social justice. Our current name, Trees Matter, was a name we had used for years to describe our flagship program. As part of the process of adopting this name, we talked to members of our community including leaders in the local Black Lives Matter movement. There was overwhelming consensus that the differences between people and trees was self-evident and not offensive. We welcome constructive dialogue about our history, our mission, our name, and our programs. We will not respond to bullying, threats, or harassment. BLACK LIVES MATTER. Trees have a complex history in America. There are the stories of Johnny Appleseed, who planted apple trees across early settlements but the kind used for cider, not for eating. There is the legend of George Washington and his cherry tree - "I cannot tell a lie." And then there are the trees used by racist mobs to hang Black people, an act of terror spawning in the Reconstruction South that made its way across our beloved land to even sunny California this past week and inspiring Abel Meeropol to write the poem "Bitter Fruit," popularized in 1939 by Billie Holiday as the song "Strange Fruit." This is to say that the tree and its importance in American history is deep-rooted, so we are not out of line when we state that to Trees Matter, Black Lives Matter. Please read our entire statement HERE. ________________________________________________________________________________ |