Missouri Conservation Corps has been busy this fall, organizing urban tree planting events in Columbia’s northeast and north-central neighborhoods. These events are designed to bring trees, shade, and additional canopy cover to parts of Columbia that need it most. We have chosen this year’s tree planting locations using data from the City’s 2022 Heat Study map, Missouri Department of Conservation Tier Maps, and from leads and recommendations made by community members and by our partners at the City of Columbia and in other partner organizations.
This new activity was spurred in part by a desire to create a greener and healthier Columbia in neighborhoods that need it most. We were also energized by a series of grant proposals we worked on last winter. Our organization wrote the grants with the hope of securing funding for the development of a Columbia Tree Corps. Because of the competitive nature of grant funding right now, we have not secured a grant for our tree planting goals, but nonetheless we have taken a big step in the direction of urban tree planting in Columbia.
Since October we have planted 96 trees with partners in the community, including Stonebridge House, Job Point, Fresh Start for Sober Living, Columbia Tree Board, Columbia Parks and Recreation, City of Columbia, Karis Church, City Garden School, Hogan House Food Pantry, and with neighbors in central Columbia. These trees are now growing in the Douglass Park Neighborhood, in the Ridgeway Neighborhood, in Fairway Meadows subdivision, in Indian Hills Park, at Karis Church on Worley, and throughout north central Columbia.
This year has been a practice run for our urban tree planting goals in 2026. We hope to work directly with neighbors and with community groups to bring more trees to the neighborhoods in Columbia that need them most. While our efforts in 2025 have not yet been funded, we are very hopeful that our tree-planting goals in 2026 will receive support from our community. We are also interested in sharing information on this program with our volunteers, our partners, and our neighbors in Columbia. If you know of a neighborhood that needs a few trees, or a community organization that is interested in helping us fund and plant trees in urban Columbia, please reach out directly and let us know. Thank you!
