Donated tree giveaway kicks off Arbor Day

Post Falls residents will soon have it made in the shade. Nearly 3,000 young trees will be given away next Saturday as a way to kick off Arbor Day.

“I think it’s going to give us a wonderful canopy of trees,” said Linden Lampman, city forester with Post Falls. “It’s an awesome opportunity for people to get trees in their yards.”

Lampman said construction in the area is turning much of the city’s open space into roads and rooftops. But she hopes the tree giveaway will bring more shade, more oxygen and more urban wildlife. She said the trees also will filter dirt and dust from the air as they grow and may add value to homes in the area or help with recharging the aquifer.

Lampman estimates the area’s canopy is far below the 35 percent recommended by The American Forest Association. She found out about the large tree donation by JUB Engineers, Panhandle State Bank and Monte Risvold, a Realtor with Tomlinson Black Realty, late last year and started piecing things together for this year’s event.

“They got together and said this was something that needed to happen,” she said.

Geremy Russell, regional survey manager with JUB Engineers, said when the large number of trees became available, they jumped on the opportunity. Russell said he planted a few trees in his own back yard last year, and the three groups were glad to get together and make it happen again this year.

“We see it as a good thing for the community,” he said. “It will help beautify the area.”

The event started last year when Post Falls’ senior urban planner started talking with developers in the area. A few came forward with about 600 seedling trees several years old with little branching. The trees were well established and ready to take off after planting, Lampman said.

Lampman hopes people here are as enthusiastic about the tree giveaway as last year, when nearly 500 trees were snapped up in about two hours. The city kept the rest for improvements around town.

“It was really an eye-opening experience,” she said. “It was thrilling from an arborist’s standpoint.”

This year the donors came back with about 3,000 young trees for the giveaway. With help from a $5,000 grant from the Idaho Department of Lands and the U.S. Forest Service, the city and tree donors will be spreading a message of tree care in the community. Lampman said 600 of the trees will be split between Coeur d’Alene and Hayden.

The remaining trees will be distributed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. next Saturday at Q’emiln Park. People can take up to two trees, ranging from maples, river birch, red bud, ash crab apple and pin oak. Ten different tree types will be available.

The trees are about 4- to 8-feet tall. Lampman said the bare-root trees aren’t in containers or burlap and she estimates each is valued at about $25.

“We’re going to have a lot of mulch and a lot of trees,” she said. “It’ll be fun.”

Now, she’s seeking about 30 people for volunteer help on distribution day. Volunteers would work in three-hour shifts to hand out information, pull trees from mulch and guide traffic. Volunteers get first choice of the trees on hand.

Those interested in volunteering can contact Lampman at 773-8147.