TreePeople is an educational and training environmental advocacy organization based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California. The TreePeople organization advocates and works to support a sustainable urban ecosystems in the Greater Los Angeles area through education,

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

community-based action, and advocacy.

Organization history

TreePeople was founded in

in 1973 by an 18-year-old activist

Andy Lipkis TreePeople is an educational and training environmental advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, California. The TreePeople organization advocates and works to support a sustainable urban ecosystems in the Greater Los Angeles area through e ...

. Lipkis and a group of other teenagers began planting trees three years prior at summer camp in the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

. Lipkis heard that smog from Los Angeles was drifting up to the mountains and killing the

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. He rallied his fellow campers, tore up a parking lot, and planted smog-tolerant trees. Lipkis served as president of TreePeople for many years and still serves as a Board Member.

Cindy Montañez Cindy Montañez (born January 19, 1974) is a former Democratic Assemblywoman from California's 39th State Assembly district serving for four years, from 2002 until 2006. Family Montañez was raised in the city of San Fernando, California alo ...

became the Chief Executive Officer in 2016. The organization works with thousands of members and volunteers and more than 50 staff members, operating out of the Center for Community Forestry located with-in 45-acre

Coldwater Canyon Coldwater Canyon is a canyon running perpendicular to and over the central Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A section of the canyon south of Mulholland Drive is also a neighborhood in the Beverly Crest Neig ...

Park. The TreePeople organization focuses on increasing Greater Los Angeles'

urban forest An urban forest is a forest, or a collection of trees, that grow within a city, town or a suburb. In a wider sense, it may include any kind of woody plant vegetation growing in and around human settlements. As opposed to a forest park, whose ec ...

by supporting people in planting and caring for trees at homes, on school yards, and in neighborhoods. It also supports volunteers in restoring damaged local forest ecosystems in the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies betw ...

and

. Beyond planting and caring for trees, TreePeople works to promote urban

watershed management Watershed management is the study of the relevant characteristics of a watershed aimed at the sustainable distribution of its resources and the process of creating and implementing plans, programs and projects to sustain and enhance watershed funct ...

, using

green infrastructure Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.Hiltrud Pötz & Pierre Bleuze (2011). Urban green-blue grids for sustainab ...

to address critical urban water issues. It educates and advocates for

water conservation Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Popula ...

and

stormwater Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation ( storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed l ...

capture in the urban landscape for Los Angeles' long-term

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

. Since its founding, the TreePeople staff have gone on to plant more than two million trees in the Los Angeles area and have developed one of the nation's largest environmental education programs. A recent program is T.R.E.E.S. – Transagency Resources for Environmental and Economic Sustainability - demonstrating the feasibility and facilitates the implementation of integrated

urban ecosystem In ecology, urban ecosystems are considered a ecosystem functional group within the intensive land-use biome. They are structurally complex ecosystems with highly heterogeneous and dynamic spatial structure that is created and maintained by huma ...

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

to increase the health and

of our cities.

Accomplishments

* 1973 - The first Los Angeles Times article, "Andy vs. the Bureaucratic Deadwood", appears in April with a public request for four thousand dollars to fund what is to be the first TreePeople activity (although no formal organization exists at this time), a summer tree-planting program of 8,000 trees in the

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernard ...

. By summer, $10,000 is raised. The California Conservation Project (CCP) is created as a nonprofit corporation to handle the money needed to do the tree planting. * 1974 - Year Two begins with a goal of 10,000 trees potted during the week of

Arbor Day Arbor Day (or Arbour in some countries) is a secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, dependi ...

. Agencies involved include the California Division of Forestry,

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

, Los Angeles Urban Forest Council, L.A. Bicentennial Committee,

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of ap ...

(SCE), Camp JCA,

ACTION Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

(

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

/VISTA), and numerous civic groups and schools. The public unofficially renames the California Conservation Project "the tree people". * 1976 - The Los Angeles City Recreation & Parks Department grants TreePeople a conditional-use permit of its Mountain Fire Station 108 (which eventually became Coldwater Canyon Park) for developing a small-scale nursery to grow

seedlings A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embryo ...

. The Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) donates a '50s vintage fuel truck, which becomes TreePeople's water truck. * 1978 - Severe rains and local flooding give TreePeople its first experience in mobilizing volunteers for disaster-relief work, resulting in the headquarters being designated L.A.'s Emergency Resource Center. * 1979 - In March, TreePeople closes the Marina Freeway for a Tree Run. The closure, a first for an L.A. freeway, attracts 5,000 runners and makes California transportation history by requiring special legislation in Culver City, Los Angeles County, and the California State Legislature. * 1980 - In February, 3,000 volunteers (responding to 1,200 calls for help) are mobilized to assist local homeowners in volunteer-organized emergency-relief effort during excessive rains and flooding.

appears on ''The Tonight Show'', and Johnny Carson makes a personal contribution to replace shovels lost during the relief work. On the tenth anniversary of

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

, 2,000 people attend a celebration at the TreePeople headquarters. * 1981-1984 - Persuaded Los Angeles residents to plant one million trees in time for the Olympics. The millionth tree is planted in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

, four days before the Olympic torch is lit. To celebrate, staff and volunteers go to the

mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

and plant 7,000 seedlings in one day. * 1986 - Coordinated volunteers to rescue thousands of waterlogged books from the Los Angeles Central Library. * 1986 - Planted 6,000 bare root fruit trees in Africa. * 1987 - To help L.A. prepare for its goal of creating citywide mandatory

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...

within three years, TreePeople develops a recycling component for its curriculum. During the school year that follows, 60,000 children—double the number stated in the contract—go through the program. * 1990 - Organized 3,000 volunteers to plant nearly 400 trees along the Martin Luther King Boulevard in one day. The Simple Act of Planting a Tree, by Andy and Katie Lipkis, is published. * 1998 -

is honored as Founder of the Year at National Philanthropy Day. * 1999 - Second Nature, a guide to adapting LA's Landscape for

sustainable living Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. It is referred to as zero wastage living" or "net zero living". Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their e ...

is published by TreePeople. * 2002 - TreePeople is among only 15 agencies worldwide to be honored by the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Committee, receiving the Spirit of the Land Environmental Education Award. * 2003 - The Sun Valley Watershed Project was highlighted in the United Nations World Forestry Organization's State of the World's Forests 2003 as an example of partnering to create a sustainable water supply. * 2004 - TreePeople completes construction on one of Los Angeles' most sustainable buildings – the Center for Community Forestry Conference Center. Designed by

Marmol Radziner + Associates Marmol Radziner is a design-build practice based in Los Angeles that was founded in 1989 by American architects Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner. The firm specializes in residential, commercial, hospitality, cultural, and community projects, and offer ...

, this building had been a vision of Lipkis's for over a decade and includes a 220,000-gallon

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by ...

to capture, clean and re-use rainwater. * 2006 - TreePeople committed to helping the City of Los Angeles plant 300,000 trees in

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

lands to support Mayor Villaraigosa's Million Trees LA initiative. This work will include restoring the fire-damaged

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the ...

. TreePeople is currently working with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on his Million Trees LA initiative. * 2007 - In the summer of 2007 Lipkis served as special advisor to Mayor of Los Angeles' climate change study. In August, 2007 Lipkis was featured in the Leonardo DiCaprio documentary, ''The 11th Hour'', about the environmental crises caused by human actions and their impact on the planet. Also within the year, TreePeople was recognized in Edens Lost & Found, a nationally broadcast PBS program which highlighted the sustainability work of four U.S. cities. * As of 2011, the organization had planted over 2 million trees in the Los Angeles area.

External links

TreePeople homepage

Interview of Andy Lipkis
Center for Oral History Research, UCLA Library Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles.

References

{{authority control Environmental organizations based in California Urban forestry organizations Environment of Los Angeles Non-profit organizations based in Los Angeles Natural history of Los Angeles County, California Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area San Gabriel Mountains Santa Monica Mountains Verdugo Mountains Environmental organizations established in 1973 1973 establishments in California 1973 in the environment Environmental organizations based in Los Angeles