A recent city project in California has begun to improve air quality and provide greater natural shade when temperatures rise, as reported by The Hanford Sentinel.
In 2023, the city of Hanford was awarded $1 million from the Forest Service's Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program through the Inflation Reduction Act. The Hanford Goes Green project's goal is to plant 600 trees in the community. Organizations involved in the scheme include GreenLatinos, Forest Service, Sequoia Community Corps (CSET), Urban Tree Foundation, Hanford Joint Union High School District, and Tree Fresno.
To kick off the program, city officials gathered at the Hanford Softball Complex to plant the first trees. According to the Sentinel, the softball complex needs new trees because of drought and destruction caused by the bark beetle. Without the trees, there is increased exposure to extreme heat, where average temperatures can reach 98 degrees Fahrenheit in July in Hanford.
"Shade is sparse, and that's especially hard on the visitors who come during our triple digit summers that we have here in Hanford," said Parks and Community Services Director Brad Albert. "There are approximately 100 trees around the entire complex that are dead. … But we're not here to be sad. We're here to celebrate today. We're going to replace these trees with many trees … that we will plant in Hanford throughout the next three years."
"Hanford is a diverse and growing community with many challenges and needs. We're subject to extreme heat, with the National Weather Service reporting that this last summer was the city's hottest on record based on mean average temperature," said City Manager Mario Cifuentez. "Unfortunately, a large portion of our city is classified as disadvantaged, and we know those residents are much more vulnerable to these environmental impacts."
About 39% of people in Hanford are Hispanic. According to Unidosus, Latino communities are at heightened risk of climate-related incidents, including extreme heat. Despite composing 19% of the entire U.S. population, 56% of U.S. Hispanics live in areas that experience an extreme weather event each year. It's even more vital in communities like Hanford to receive funding for projects like Hanford Goes Green.
Trees can cool temperatures in a community by up to 10 degrees, per the Arbor Day Foundation. Extreme heat, which is prolonged heat over 90 degrees, puts people at risk of heat stroke, exhaustion, and other conditions. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there have been 14,000 extreme heat-related deaths since 1979. These trees can help protect communities from extreme heat-related conditions, clean the air, and give needed homes to diverse wildlife.
Other cities in the U.S. have made efforts to protect their communities by planting trees, including in Andover, Massachusetts, where officials are planting new trees in the Bald Hill-Wood Hill forest.
"It's not just something aesthetic that we want in our communities," said Urban Greening Initiative Coordinator for GreenLatinos, Amanda Pantoja. "It's a necessity. Every neighborhood deserves the access to the benefits that trees provide, regardless of income and race but for far too long, our communities have been left out of these efforts, and the result has been leaving them vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Our work here today is going to make sure that we change that, and this is what climate justice looks like."
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