It’s Earth Day, Austin — take a look at the trees.

Austin’s urban forest of 42+ million trees covers ~41% of the city, cleaning the air, reducing flooding, providing shade, and increasing property values.

Most recent estimates state that Austin’s trees are valued at $12 billion to $16 billion and provide an estimated $38 million in benefits each year, in part through:

Reducing energy costs
Sequestering ~1.9 million tons of carbon per year
Alleviating pollution

However, like several cities across the country, Austin’s urban forest is under threat of extreme weather, land development, invasive plants, and disease.

To protect Austin’s trees, the city established an Urban Forest Plan about 10 years ago, outlining aims for bolstering the urban forest by 2034. The plan outlines a range of goals for the caretaking of trees on public land and right-of-ways, including:

Identifying, suppressing, and managing invasive species
Maximizing the use of stormwater and reclaimed water for irrigation
Designing future street, sidewalk, and utility design with vegetation in mind
Encouraging planting in high-priority areas, which includes much of east Austin

This map from My City's Trees — a platform using data from Texas A&M Forest Service and the U.S. Forest Service — shows highly vegetated areas in dark green. | Screenshot of My City's Trees interactive map

How to take care of trees in your neighborhood

First things first: Get to know the trees in your neighborhood with My City’s Trees’ interactive map.

Once you and your local urban forest are acquainted, dig into some of the opportunities for protecting the forest in your area:

Call Austin 3-1-1 to report concerns about sick or damaged trees
See if your area is part of a Neighborhood Partnering Program, which connects residents to resources for making green space improvements or enhancing trails
Volunteer with the Austin Parks Foundation, Keep Austin Beautiful, The Trail Conservancy, or TreeFolks
Plant a tree on your own property

How to get free trees to plant

TreeFolks, the City of Austin, and Austin Energy give away 7,000 trees each year from October to March — all you have to do is prove residency in Austin. Pssst — You can also apply to have trees delivered to your home.