Draft:Trees Atlanta

Trees Atlanta

Formation	1985 (1985)
Founder	Marcia Bansley, with the Junior League of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, and the City of Atlanta Parks Commissioner
Type	501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Purpose	Urban forestry, tree planting, conservation, environmental education
Location	825 Warner Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Region served	Metropolitan Atlanta
Key people	Greg Levine (Executive Director)
Website	www.treesatlanta.org

Trees Atlanta is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that works to protect and expand the urban tree canopy of metropolitan Atlanta through tree planting, conservation of existing forestland, and public education. Founded in 1985, the organization grew out of a partnership among private citizens, the Junior League of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, and the Atlanta Parks Commissioner to address a perceived lack of green space in downtown Atlanta.

Since its founding, Trees Atlanta has reported planting and caring for more than 180,000 trees across the metropolitan Atlanta area. Its activities are organized around several program areas, including community tree planting (known internally as NeighborWoods), forest restoration, and youth and adult education. The organization also manages a substantial portion of the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum, a linear public garden following sections of the BeltLine multi-use trail. Trees Atlanta has also participated in public discussions surrounding the City of Atlanta's tree protection ordinance and the city's broader tree-canopy policy.

The organization's headquarters, the Trees Atlanta Kendeda TreeHouse, opened in 2023 on a former industrial site in southwest Atlanta along the BeltLine's Westside Trail. An earlier headquarters building, the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Center, operated in the Reynoldstown neighborhood from 2008 and received LEED Platinum certification.

History

Founding and early years

Trees Atlanta was established in 1985 following efforts by a group of Atlanta citizens, the Junior League of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress (a downtown business association), and the city's Commissioner of Parks to address the limited amount of greenspace in downtown Atlanta. Marcia Bansley, an Atlanta native who had previously been involved with river-conservation advocacy through Friends of the River and the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area campaign, was hired as the organization's first executive director. For approximately the first eight years of the organization's existence, Bansley served as its only paid staff member, and the organization's initial annual budget was reported to be approximately $800.

The organization's first tree-planting project took place in the spring of 1986 at Carnegie Way and Spring Street in downtown Atlanta, where 46 trees were planted. Over the following years, Trees Atlanta expanded its planting activities into Midtown Atlanta and other neighborhoods as funding allowed.

In 1992, the organization received a four-year, $4.5 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service to plant approximately 2,000 trees in advance of the 1996 Summer Olympics, including plantings at what became Centennial Olympic Park. Coverage of the project in local media was credited with raising the organization's public profile. By the early 2000s, Trees Atlanta's annual operating budget had grown to approximately $750,000, and by 2011 to nearly $1.6 million with a full-time staff of ten.

Leadership transition and growth

Bansley led the organization for 26 years before retiring in 2011. Upon her retirement, the Trees Atlanta board appointed two successors, Connie Veates and Greg Levine, as co-executive directors, an arrangement the organization described as a dual-leadership structure. Veates, who had previously served on the organization's board, took responsibility for development, finance, and operations as chief operating officer, while Levine, who had joined Trees Atlanta's staff in 1995, oversaw the organization's tree-planting and conservation programs as chief program officer. The two worked together as co-executive directors for twelve years.

During this period the organization expanded its programming and facilities, including the opening of a second office, known as the Trees Atlanta TreeHouse, in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood along the BeltLine's Eastside Trail in 2015. In 2012, Trees Atlanta began planting what would become the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum along the Eastside Trail.

In March 2023, Veates stepped down from her role, and Levine was named sole executive director, a transition the organization described as only the third change in its executive leadership since 1985. The transition coincided with the completion of the organization's new headquarters in southwest Atlanta.

Recent developments

In 2024, Trees Atlanta launched the Urban Forestry Career Pathways (UFOR) workforce-development program, supported in part by a $10 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service under the federal Inflation Reduction Act. That year the organization also began replacing gasoline-powered work trucks in its vehicle fleet with electric vehicles and installed electric-vehicle charging stations at its headquarters.

In 2025, Trees Atlanta marked 40 years since its founding and reported having planted more than 180,000 trees to date, along with more than 44,000 volunteer service hours logged that year.

Programs and initiatives

Trees Atlanta organizes its work into several program areas, including tree planting, forest restoration, and public education, alongside policy and advocacy activity related to local tree protection.

Tree planting

The organization's principal tree-planting initiative is NeighborWoods, a community-based volunteer program through which Trees Atlanta plants trees along streets, in front yards, schoolyards, and city parks, typically in partnership with neighborhood residents and organizations. According to the organization, NeighborWoods plantings are followed by approximately two years of maintenance, including watering, mulching, and pruning, intended to improve the trees' long-term survival. A related initiative, the Yard Tree Program, provides free trees for planting in residents' front yards in participating municipalities.

Separately, the organization's Urban Trees team plants larger, more mature trees too large for volunteer crews to install safely, primarily along sidewalks, in public spaces, and on private commercial property, with the trees subsequently maintained by Trees Atlanta staff. According to data reported to nonprofit-transparency databases, in fiscal year 2024 the organization's Urban Trees program planted 1,166 trees of approximately 15 ft (4.6 m) in height, with an additional 1,032 trees planted through its forest restoration, green-infrastructure, and BeltLine teams, and 947 trees distributed through tree sales and giveaway events.

Forest restoration

Trees Atlanta's forest restoration program is focused on converting overgrown or degraded greenspaces into stable, functioning forest ecosystems, primarily through the removal of invasive plant species and the reintroduction of native vegetation. In fiscal year 2024, the organization reported treating and managing 641 acres of invasive species across the metropolitan Atlanta area.

Education

Trees Atlanta operates education programs for both children and adults. Youth programming includes an in-school curriculum (described by the organization as Urban TreeTrackers) and day camps for younger children (Junior TreeKeepers), as well as the Youth Tree Team, a roughly seven-week paid summer job-training and leadership program for high school students that began in 2016. As of 2025, the program had reportedly employed 329 high school students from 46 schools across metropolitan Atlanta since its founding.

Adult education offerings include the TreeKeepers training program, guided tree walks, walking tours of the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum, and a speaker series, alongside annual native plant and tree sales. In fiscal year 2024, the organization reported delivering more than 20,000 educational interactions through a combination of in-person and online programming.

Urban Forestry Career Pathways (workforce development)

In addition to its volunteer and youth-education programs, Trees Atlanta operates Urban Forestry Career Pathways (UFOR), a paid workforce-development program aimed at young adults, which began in 2024 with funding from a U.S. Forest Service grant tied to the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum

Trees Atlanta manages the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum, a linear public garden that follows sections of the Atlanta BeltLine, a multi-use trail and greenway encircling the central portions of the city. The arboretum is operated in partnership with Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, and the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation. As of the mid-2020s, Trees Atlanta described itself as managing approximately 60 acres of greenspace along roughly 13 mi (21 km) of completed BeltLine trail as part of the arboretum. In 2026, BeltLine officials stated that the arboretum, spanning more than 12 mi (19 km) of completed trail, was recognized as the world's longest linear arboretum, a designation also referenced by the international arboretum accreditation network ArbNet.

The arboretum includes specialized plantings and features such as the Stumpery, a garden installation made from repurposed logs and tree stumps salvaged from construction sites around Atlanta, located along the Eastside Trail in the Reynoldstown neighborhood. The arboretum has also been noted for its collection of native azaleas and historic magnolia trees associated with the site of the former Ponce de Leon Park, a baseball venue that once stood near the BeltLine corridor.

Policy and advocacy

Trees Atlanta has participated in public discussions and city processes related to Atlanta's tree protection ordinance, which governs the removal and replacement of trees on public and private property. The City of Atlanta's tree protection ordinance, last substantially updated in 2001 prior to 2025, was the subject of an extended revision process involving city officials, developers, and tree advocates; the Atlanta City Council unanimously approved a revised ordinance in June 2025 that increased fees associated with tree removal and doubled fines for illegal removal, while setting a citywide goal of maintaining 50 percent tree canopy coverage. Local advocacy groups, including some unaffiliated with Trees Atlanta, also raised concerns during this period about the management of the city's Tree Trust Fund, which collects fees and fines related to ordinance enforcement.

Headquarters and facilities

Since its founding, Trees Atlanta has operated from two primary headquarters locations. Its original office was a small space in downtown Atlanta. In 2008, the organization relocated to a renovated former warehouse at 225 Chester Avenue SE in the Reynoldstown neighborhood, a facility known as the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Center that received LEED Platinum certification for its energy-efficient design.

In 2023, Trees Atlanta opened a new headquarters, the Trees Atlanta Kendeda TreeHouse, at 825 Warner Street SW in southwest Atlanta, on a 2.9 to 3 acres (1.2 to 1.2 ha) former industrial site adjacent to the BeltLine's Westside Trail, near the Oakland City and Adair Park neighborhoods. The property, acquired in 2019, required brownfield remediation; construction was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic before demolition began in August 2021. The roughly 22,000 to 23,000 sq ft (2,000 to 2,100 m²) facility includes staff offices, classrooms, event and meeting space, and a separate operations and logistics center for vehicles and equipment, and was designed to include rental space for additional environmental nonprofit organizations, including the Conservation Fund, Birds Georgia (also known by its former name, Georgia Audubon), and The Nature Conservancy in Georgia.

The Kendeda TreeHouse incorporates a number of sustainability features, including a geothermal heat pump system, solar thermal water heating, rainwater collection, an on-site tree nursery, electric-vehicle charging stations, and landscaping using reclaimed concrete and salvaged materials from the previous structure on the site. The building's structural use of wood was reported by the organization to have sequestered approximately 650,000 pounds of carbon dioxide compared with conventional construction materials. The facility has also been used as a rental venue for private events, including weddings and corporate gatherings.

Impact and metrics

According to figures published by Trees Atlanta and reported in independent coverage, the organization has planted and cared for more than 180,000 trees in metropolitan Atlanta since its founding in 1985. The organization has reported planting approximately 9,000 trees annually in recent years through its combined planting programs.

Financial filings reported to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and compiled by ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer database indicate that, for the fiscal year ending in June 2025, Trees Atlanta reported total revenue of $10,633,248 and total expenses of $10,849,585, with total assets of $26,408,977 and total liabilities of $2,409,022. Approximately 93.5 percent of the organization's reported revenue for that fiscal year came from contributions. An independent audit commissioned by the organization for the fiscal year ending June 2025 identified a "significant deficiency" in internal financial and governance controls, characterized as less severe than a material weakness.

In its 2025 fiscal year materials, the organization reported logging more than 44,000 volunteer service hours. In fiscal year 2024, the organization reported managing 641 acres for invasive-species treatment as part of its forest restoration program and delivering more than 20,000 educational interactions through its various education programs.

See also

• Atlanta BeltLine
• Urban forestry

External links

• Official website