The City of Saratoga has partnered with San Jose-based nonprofit Our City Forest to subsidize the fee of tree planting in residential areas.
Private property owners in Saratoga will soon have the ability to get a five-gallon tree free of charge or 50 percent off as much as two trees, the results of a brand new two-year contract the City Council approved with Our City Forest at its Aug. 21 meeting.
The contract calls for a $50,000 payment to the nonprofit organization that gives urban forestry programs and services in Silicon Valley. Our City Forest will provide the trees and planting services.
“If this program is successful, [will] continue until 2030,” says the staff report on this point.
The latest initiative is aligned with Saratoga's 2030 Climate Action Plan (CAP), a roadmap that outlines town's efforts to cut back its greenhouse gas emissions.
“Saratoga’s CAP will help focus on activities that will deliver the greatest emissions reductions in the most cost-effective manner,” town’s website states.
Saratoga has also been named a “Tree City USA” for 17 consecutive years by the Arbor Day Foundation, an award given to cities which have a tree board or authority and a municipal tree preservation ordinance, spend at the least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and have fun Arbor Day.
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