Seattle Forest Week flyer. Seattle Forest Week festivities are kicking off next week, giving community members the opportunity to help grow Seattle’s urban forest and build a healthier city!
Everyone is welcome to events lined up from October 25 through November 1. Starting October 25, Green Seattle Day is bringing together community members to restore 17 greenspaces across the city, Seattle Public Utilities is opening a new urban tree nursery, and Arbor Day activities will center tree planting in the New Holly neighborhood.
To celebrate, we’re sharing more about our new “Foresting Seattle” program and Citywide efforts to protect and grow a thriving urban forest. Forests located in urban areas provide cool shade during extreme heat, improve air and water quality, manage stormwater runoff, and attract people to local business and community spaces.
Foresting Seattle takes a collaborative approach to growing tree canopy in focus neighborhoods, promoting community leadership, restoring green space, and providing youth employment opportunities.
A Unified Approach to Growing our Urban Forest
Like many cities, access to trees and the health benefits they provide are not equitably distributed in Seattle. Low-income communities and communities of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) often have fewer trees and experience disproportionate climate change impacts like dangerous heat, flooding, and air pollution. The Foresting Seattle program uses an environmental justice lens to ensure those most impacted by climate change are benefitting from a greener city and are directly involved in solutions.
Led by our team at OSE and Seattle Parks and Recreation, with funding support from a 2024 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Foresting Seattle is bringing together many City departments, including Seattle City Light, Seattle Department of Transportation, and Seattle Public Utilities.
Foresting Seattle’s Three Focus Areas
Urban Forest Restoration
Over the next five years, we will restore more than 37.5 acres, or the equivalent of 28 football fields of forest floor, by tackling invasive species and planting 4,000+ trees. This collaborative effort with our community partners will engage hundreds of neighbors in hands-on restoration, ensuring these vital green spaces thrive for generations. Foresting Seattle will focus restoration efforts in Beacon Hill, a neighborhood experiencing low canopy and extreme heat.
Through the Green Seattle Partnership (GSP), the City and communities have worked together for years to grow, preserve, and care for the urban forest. More partners, including the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS), Mountains to Sound Greenway, Seattle Housing Authority at Rainier Vista, and Seattle Public Schools at Rising Star Elementary, are critical to engaging Seattle neighbors, caring for our existing forest, and planting more trees. The GSP brings together thousands of neighbors and volunteers each year to restore and actively maintain the City’s forested parklands – check out GSP’s recent blog, “Foresting Seattle: A United Effort to Reforest Seattle’s Low Canopy Neighborhoods.”
Neighborhood Teams
Over the next two years, Foresting Seattle will form Neighborhood Teams in the Chinatown-International District (C-ID) and Beacon Hill to raise awareness, elevate community leadership, and enhance tree canopy across public and private land.
These teams will develop action plans to plant and care for hundreds of trees over multiple years, helping combat urban heat and mitigate the pressures of climate change on people and trees. The C-ID Neighborhood Team is comprised of 12 community members representing diverse community organizations.
Urban Forestry Job Training and Experience
Foresting Seattle will also provide career exposure opportunities in urban forestry for local youth through Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Youth Green Corps. Young adults ages 18-24 will be trained over 12 weeks and receive on the job experience, focusing primarily in the forested areas of Beacon Hill. The first cohort will start in early December and wrap up in March 2026.
What’s Next and How to Get Involved
OSE’s roots lie in ensuring a healthy and equitable environment for all community members — we can’t wait to continue planting and caring for an urban forest that benefits all our neighbors. Check out Mayor Harrell’s 2025 Seattle Forest Week proclamation for more.
Want to branch out and grow your neighborhood’s urban forest? Visit the Trees for Seattle website to check out the dozens of Seattle Forest Week events!
- Green Seattle Day, Saturday, October 25, times and locations vary
- Seattle Public Utilities urban tree nursery opening celebration, Wednesday, October 29, 3-5:30pm
- Arbor Day, Saturday, November 1, 9am-12pm, New Holly Neighborhood