A group of more than 50 Jade District community members, elected officials, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and academics came together this month to formalize a commitment to improve air quality in the greater Jade District through the Jade Greening coalition.  Coalition partners signed a Declaration of Cooperation and planted two trees as a living testament to their commitment. 

Jade Greening co-conveners Huy Ong (OPAL) and Senator Michael Dembrow with Oregon Solutions Director Stephen Greenwood

Environmental Services Tree Program staff provided the trees and planting materials for the ceremony, along with coalition partners Portland Parks Urban Forestry and Friends of Trees.  The trees—a Princeton Sentry ginkgo and a Chinese pistache—were chosen by representatives from the Jade community and planted at Harrison Park on SE 87^th Avenue.

Coalition partner members Anne Phillip (BES), Duncan Hwang (APANO), April Bertelsen (PBOT), Damon Schrosk (UFC) and Lea Wilson (BES) planting the Princeton Sentry ginkgo.

Here in the heart of the Jade District, rich in cultural diversity but poor in tree cover and air quality, these trees will clean and cool the air and provide grace, beauty, and oxygen for students and neighbors to enjoy for generations. Thank you to Harrison Park School for providing both the location for the ceremony and the space for these trees to grow.

The Jade Greening project aims to identify and implement community-centered strategies that engage residents and partners from all sectors in a breathable, accessible, livable, and prosperous future for the Jade District. Senator Michael Dembrow and Jade community leaders OPAL and APANO convened the Jade Greening coalition through an Oregon Solutions process.  During the next five years of the project, the Environmental Services Tree Program will work with Friends of Trees and other coalition and community partners to provide culturally relevant outreach and education and to plant at least 100 trees within the greater Jade District.

The Environmental Services Tree Program works with nonprofit and community partners to plant and promote trees for clean rivers, healthy watersheds, and livable, sustainable communities. Feeling inspired to do a little greening of your own? Plant a tree in your residential yard before April 30 and get a Treebate credit on your water/sewer/stormwater utility bill. Click here for details.