The quest to plant 50,000 trees across the Triangle

Why it matters: Between 2010 and 2020 alone, Wake County lost more than 11,000 acres of tree canopy, more than double the size of William B. Umstead State Park.

• Development pressures in the county haven't slowed since then, as the Triangle remains one of the fastest-growing areas in the country.

Driving the news: Trees for the Triangle, a local nonprofit, is hoping to turn the tide.

• The organization, founded in 2018, wants to plant 50,000 trees across the region by 2050, partnering with cities and other nonprofits to plant trees and operating a pay-what-you-can model for planting at people's homes.
• It recently partnered with Wake County Public Schools, for instance, to plant native trees on school grounds, with many newer schools lacking enough shade.

State of play: David Klemp, Trees for the Triangle's executive director, said so far the nonprofit has planted 4,000 native trees across the Triangle, but it's hoping to significantly ramp up its efforts in 2026.

• The organization has historically operated at a small scale, but after a surge in donations and grants in the past year, Klemp, a former arborist in Raleigh's Urban Forestry Division, has been able to go full time and hire staff.

What they're saying: "I kind of look at us like, 'Well, if we're going to lose trees from whichever combination of causes, then we'll take up the charge of planting trees back,'" Klemp told Axios. "I can't plant as quickly as some folks are taking them down, but we can at least help balance that a little bit."

• "We view ourselves a little like battlefield medics," he added, "just running around with the stretcher, planting trees here and there, where the landscape is bleeding a little bit or really lacking canopy."

Zoom in: Trees for the Triangle is not alone in the fight. Other local organizations, like We Plant it Forward, and cities, like Raleigh and Durham, are working to restore canopy or bring it to places it's never been.

Between the lines: The Triangle's existing tree canopy is also not equally distributed, with lower-income neighborhoods often having less tree coverage, and equitably distributing them can lower temperatures throughout the city during the summer.

• "We talk about tree equity a lot ... making sure that places that were historically overlooked, like old redlined districts of cities, get trees as well as the old rich parts of town," Klemp said. "I'll plant trees in both, I don't mind, but we need to make sure that it gets spread around."

What's next: Trees for the Triangle and several other nonprofits, like Wake Audubon, are pushing for the next Raleigh city budget to add more money for tree planting.

• The goal would be to plant 24,000 trees by 2032, the 240th anniversary of the city's founding.