The city of North Las Vegas and a plant advocacy nonprofit gave away 200 free trees to valley residents Saturday, drawing long lines to Nicholas E. Flores Jr. Park before the event began.
Lisa Ortega, executive director of Nevada Plants, said the giveaway — aimed at helping cool down the valley by adding more shade — was the largest the group has hosted. It started at 8 a.m., and within 45 minutes, all 100 fruit trees, including apple, plum and apricot varieties, had been claimed.
Another 100 shade trees, including oaks and acacias, had also been lined up in the park’s parking lot for picking.
Volunteers from local arborist businesses helped residents select one tree per household and offered guidance on proper care. City workers then assisted with loading the plants into vehicles.
“We have a responsibility, not only to create shade for people, but also to clean the air,” Ortega said. “We are not going to get out of this urban heat island with just the cities doing their thing; we have also got to get the homeowners involved.”
North Las Vegas’s Tree Canopy Coverage initiative has been part of the effort in Southern Nevada to combat food insecurity and the urban heat island effect.
Last summer, UNLV students and staff planted 18 trees in a North Las Vegas neighborhood. Saturday’s giveaway continued the valleywide effort, aiming to reduce higher temperatures in often low-income, underserved neighborhoods caused by a lack of green space and tree cover.
Midway through the event, dozens of people gathered under a park gazebo waiting for trees. The city continued distributing numbered tickets so attendees could wait in their cars or in the shade as temperatures climbed toward 90 degrees.
Eddie Rodriguez, a forester with the city, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that North Las Vegas has 3 percent tree canopy coverage and a deficit of about 55,000 trees compared to other cities in the valley, making residents particularly vulnerable to the heat.
Certain areas in the valley were also identified by the 2022 Southern Nevada Urban Heat Mapping Project, which enlisted volunteers to collect data around Clark County. North Las Vegas, downtown Las Vegas, and east Las Vegas can experience temperatures up to 11 degrees hotter than other parts of the region, according to the findings.
Those areas include historically Black and Latino neighborhoods, where there are often fewer trees and parks. Ortega said that although the tree giveaway was advertised to North Las Vegas residents, it was open to all valley residents.
“Who’s not affected by the urban heat island?” she asked. “These are people who come early because they really want a tree, and that shows me that they are going to take care of it.”
After waiting about an hour in line, North Las Vegas resident Caroline Smith chose a eucalyptus tree for its wellness and health benefits. Smith said she lived just a couple of blocks down from the park and had heard about the giveaway on social media.
“This is beautiful,” Smith said. “I actually have no trees in my yard, and I was going to pay someone at the local nursery to plant some. This is even better.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
