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NeighborWoods Las Cruces is laying the groundwork for a massive tree planting this November.
The organization, which was formed in November 2022, is “trying to increase the tree canopy in our city,” said committee member Myr Dawson.
The New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department estimates Las Cruces’ tree cover at less than four percent – nine trees per acre. That compares to 13 percent (22 trees per acres) in Albuquerque, five percent (12.7 trees per acre) in El Paso and 9 percent (12.9 trees per acre) in Phoenix.
Tree New Mexico received a grant to do a demonstration NeighborWoods planting of 50 trees in a residential area bordered by Triviz Drive, Solano Drive, Madrid Road and Spruce Avenue in east Las Cruces.
NeighborWoods is comprised of three committees, Dawson said: the Neighborhood Group she belongs to along with Maria Contreras, Molly New of the Las Cruces Utilities Department and Robert Blair. The committee chair is former Doña Ana County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Craig Fenske. The other two committees are the Volunteer Group and the Tree Species Group.
Earlier this year, a logo design contest for middle school students was won by Emily Valencia, who will be an eighth grader this fall at Sierra Middle School. She and the other top contest entry winners – Jizelle Valenzuela (second place), Kayleigh Sais (third), Lincoln Quintaro (fourth) and Soloman Rigosta (fifth) -- received gift cards from Caliches, Sonic Drive In and Allen Theatres in a June 2 presentation.
Between now and the tree-planting event in November, members of the NeighborWoods committees are canvassing homeowners in the designated tree-planting area to adopt trees to be planted on their property, get tee shirts printed using the new logo, recruit and train team members for the planting, verify and flag all the locations where trees will be planted, dig the holes, and, finally, plant the trees on Saturday, Nov. 18.
“The Las Cruces NeighborWoods demonstration planting is truly a community effort with volunteer Tree Stewards, Lift Up neighborhood residents, several City of Las Cruces departments and other community volunteers dedicated to making Las Cruces a more livable community,” said Fenske.
The Las Cruces NeighborWoods group meets every few weeks and invites volunteers to participate in the planning group or volunteer for tree planting on the day of the planting, Fenske said.
Visit treenm.org/planting-programs/abq-neighborwoods, emnrd.nm.gov/sfd/urban-and-community-forestry. Scroll down to Project Desert Canopy – Growing a Healthier Community to find a Las Cruces fact sheet.
