Volunteers Plant Trees In Carter Park Neighborhood On Day Of Service

Volunteers dotted West 33rd Street early Monday, and after their efforts, trees dotted the corridor, too. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, people planted 40 street trees with the city of Vancouver’s Urban Forestry Program to restore the tree canopy and improve safety in the Carter Park neighborhood. “This is a busy corridor, but it’s also in the middle of a residential area,” said Jessica George, Urban Forestry outreach coordinator. As she helped a team of volunteers plant dogwoods near Kauffman Avenue, she said street trees act as a traffic calming device, encouraging drivers to slow down. James Lanz lived on West 30th Street for years but recently moved out of the area. “I decided to come back and give back to the neighborhood,” he said while wrangling a magnolia tree. Other tree varieties planted Monday include Persian parrotia, Oregon white oak, incense cedar, Alaskan yellow cedar and cypress.