Green Des Moines

GREEN DES MOINES PARTNERSHIP
The Green Des Moines Partnership is a collaborative effort between the Port of Seattle, City of Des Moines, community groups, nonprofits, schools, businesses and hundreds of volunteers to restore and maintain our forested parks and open spaces.

Green City Partnerships
Through this program, Green Des Moines partners with local communities to recruit, train and support volunteer stewards to lead forest restoration projects in priority parks. The city aims to build a strong culture of community stewardship, leadership and partnership to support healthy urban forests for everyone. Each city’s program relies on a network of individuals, organizations, staff and volunteers. All partners are essential for the success of the project.

BUILDING THE PARTNERSHIP
In 2018, with funding from the Port of Seattle Airport Community Ecology (ACE) Fund, new Green City Partnerships in SeaTac, Burien and Des Moines were established to restore and care for our local urban forests. The program start-up process includes:

  • Assessment of current tree canopy cover city-wide and forest health conditions in parks and natural areas

  • Community outreach and engagement to guide project prioritization and implementation

  • Developing a 20-year plan for restoring forests and increasing the number tree canopy across the three cities

  • Implementation of on the ground projects with a volunteer program to organize local community groups to plant trees, remove invasive plant species and meet restoration goals