Branch Out Bozeman: Urban Forest Network
Planting trees at Bronken Park in April 2022.
Have you ever stopped to think about all of the wonderful things that trees do for us? The people and critters of our watershed depend on trees. Trees are like sponges– they naturally filter, clean, and store water, keeping our rivers healthy and helping prevent floods and drought.
During the month of April, GWC helped planted a total of 50 new trees in our watershed. These new trees are the result of a unique partnership between Oboz Footwear, the City of Bozeman, and GWC. Oboz Footwear graciously funded the cost of these 50 new trees, and GWC and the City is excited to partner with them for future tree plantings.
To celebrate Arbor Day this year, we helped plant 25 trees along exposed riparian areas and trails in Bronken Park. Bronken Park has several exposed waterways– the new trees will help shade the waterway, provide habitat for wildlife, and increase long term water availability.
The following Friday, we planted an additional 25 trees in the boulevards along South 20th Avenue. GWC and the Forestry Division planted the first 10 trees in the boulevards along South 20th during Arbor Day in 2021. We built off of this work in 2022 and planted 25 more trees. This is an area dominated by renters, who are less likely to apply for the City’s Boulevard Tree Cost Share program. These new trees will provide shade and reduce the urban heat island effect. The plantings are a result of the unique partnership between Oboz Footwear, GWC and the City: Oboz funded the trees, GWC conducted resident surveys and coordinated volunteers to water the new trees, and the City provided their tree expertise and supplies and is responsible for long-term maintenance.
In late summer 2021, GWC received a technical grant from the National Park Service Rivers Trails and Conservation Assistance Program to help harness the momentum from our successful planting projects into a formal city wide initiative. Together with the City and the National Park Service, we’re launching a new initiative called Branch Out Bozeman: Urban Forest Network, or BOB for short. The mission of BOB is to engage the greater Bozeman community in the stewardship of an urban forest that enriches the health of people and nature throughout its life cycle.
We’re identifying and prioritizing areas in needs of trees within the greater Bozeman area that have the greatest impact on water quality and equity. The City’s GIS Team is creating a Community Urban Forest Map to assist in identifying high priority planting areas. This summer, two MSU students will be helping groundtruth this data.
We envision an urban forest that promotes a healthy, resilient and equitable future for the watershed, wildlife and people of the greater Bozeman area.
If you’re interested in getting more involved with BOB, please reach out to Brooke at outreach@gallatinwatershedcouncil.org.
