Pictured: Community volunteers participate in tree planting event hosted by Delta Institute in Hammond, Indiana. Delta Institute most recently launched a Tree Planting Consortium in Northwest Indiana before replicating the model to the new geography of Southeast Wisconsin and Northeast Illinois. Photo: Jamie Zouras / Delta Institute
Delta Institute is developing a Tree Planting Consortium (TPC) for communities in Kenosha (WI), Racine (WI), and Lake (IL) Counties. The TPC model does more than benefit communities by providing direct tree plantings and restoring the regional tree canopy; it also builds local capacity by providing a forum to collaborate and participate in educational workshops on urban forestry.
Why Our Work is Needed Today
The Lake Michigan shoreline stretching from Racine County, WI, at the north, through Kenosha County, WI, and to Lake County, IL, at the south, is home to 16 near-lakefront communities. The region is home to a rich diversity of species, hosts the Root-Pike Watershed and roughly 18 sub-watersheds, and is home to approximately 1,170,000 total residents. However, substantial development has skyrocketed in recent years, with sizable corporate development of massive industrial complexes on acreage that was farmland and natural land only 10 years ago.
As more extreme weather events impact northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin watersheds (and thus Lake Michigan), our project seeks to increase the region’s tree canopy and improve its climate resiliency by adding stormwater management capacity, reducing urban heat island effect, and promoting biodiversity using native trees for our proposed demonstration plantings.
Brief Overview of What We’re Doing
This project leverages nature-based solutions to address the region’s climate and water quality challenges, fostering both environmental and community resilience. We are replicating the model of the Tree Planting Consortium we convened in Northwest Indiana to meet the local needs of communities along Lake Michigan’s western shoreline and restore the region’s tree canopy. Our project goals and outcomes are to:
- Create a New Regional Model for Shared Forestry and Training: Through technical training, a shared Best Management Practices Toolkit, a hands-on community engagement, and demonstration tree plantings, this project will create a new regional model for shared forestry and training. We are committed to increasing regional forestry expertise and resident involvement addressing the need for canopy restoration and expansion throughout the region. This approach will enable effective coordination across multiple communities in Southeast Wisconsin and Northeast Illinois.
- Implement Environmental and Community Benefits: Regional management will maximize tree canopy restoration and stormwater management to improve water quality/health, while expanding community well-being indicators: resident access to greenspace, neighborhood and corridor beautification, public health, carbon capture and sequestration, habitat restoration, species diversification, emerald ash borer mitigation, community education, and municipal capacity building. The pilot demonstration sites will be accessible, and the community engagement activities will engage audiences that might not typically participate in such projects. The pilot tree planting represents the direct impact, but the project’s reach will extend far beyond, with increased urban forestry capacity benefiting a much larger area across the region.
Our Impact
We are working to grow our Tree Planting Consortium over the next few years to increase the number of communities we serve, trees planted, and more. In the meantime, we have established the following goals for the first phase of this project’s work:
10 Communities
We will recruit members from at least 10 communities in Kenosha (WI), Racine (WI), and Lake (IL) Counties to participate in our Tree Planting Consortium.
40 Volunteers
We will engage at least 40 volunteers and youth in tree planting activities and educational workshops that support resident forestry activities.
25 Trees
We will begin by planting 25 trees at sites, with additional tree planting activities to take place as membership in the Tree Planting Consortium grows.
4.3k Stormwater Gallons Captured
Trees planted through this project will support local green infrastructure goals that help address community flooding risks.
Our Partners
We’re grateful to our partners who are participating in this project, including Lake County, Illinois.