The Truckee River Urban Tree Workforce Program
Access to green urban spaces has been proven, again and again, to improve our physical health, psychological well-being, social interactions, and quality of life. Yet, in downtown Reno, urban disadvantaged communities lack access to shady outdoor public spaces. Along the 2-mile stretch of the Truckee River from Lake Street to Galletti Way, tree cover is only 5-13%. It’s simply not enough.
One Truckee River is setting out to change this: increasing shade east of downtown Reno. In doing so, we’ll cool the river trail pavement, increase enjoyment of public spaces, and create a healthier living environment, both for Northern Nevada families and local wildlife.
Just as importantly, we’re pairing our restorative efforts with workforce development, building a job-training program for the people in our community who need it most. As Ben Castro, Executive Director of RISE (Reno Initiative for Shelter Equality) sees it, our marginalized community members, he serves, are often pitted against or left out of the conversations and implementation efforts focused on improving the natural environment. “I’ve always found these to be false dichotomies,” he notes. “Even though workforce development and environmental protection aren't mutually exclusive they can come together and we can do both, providing multiple benefits to our local community.”
It’s all part of our new restorative vegetation management work along the urban Truckee River: The Truckee River Urban Tree Workforce Program!
Who’s Involved
Over the next 3 years, with the support from Nevada Division of Forestry, One Truckee River will administer and coordinate the collaborative Workforce Development Program. In partnership with the City of Reno and other nonprofit organizations, we’ll train individuals facing barriers to employment in tree care, urban and community forestry, and biodiversity as they reestablish native trees along the urban Truckee River Corridor.
To do this work, OTR is subcontracting with Truckee Meadows Park Foundation, where Tara Tran is providing technical support to the Program, and with RISE, where we’re working with Executive Director, Ben Castro, and Program Manager and Supervisor, Ian Redinbaugh. Within the City of Reno, Matt Basile, the City of Reno Forester and Karina Mercier are providing direction, guidance, and coordination support. We are now hiring and training our workforce crew from Crossroads, a Washoe County Human Services Agency lead initiative managed under RISE that provides a tiered supportive housing approach for men, women, and women and children.
What We’re Doing
The Truckee River Urban Tree Workforce Program is a 2-in-1: designed to benefit our urban river environment while providing job training opportunities for individuals residing in sober living at Crossroads. The Workforce Program curriculum will not only create part-time jobs for 10 Crossroads residents but take them through the more technical aspects of urban forestry, ecology, and riparian management as we complete vegetation management work along the Truckee River. Crew participants will receive instruction in forestry, with the goal that 8 will continue beyond the Program to become certified arborists or secure ongoing work in tree care or landscaping. For Tara Tran, who’s leading the educational portion of the Workforce Program, “caring about the environment has given me a huge sense of purpose. In teaching, I hope to pass on this purpose to the workforce crew. Increasing relationships between people and the natural world around them is a big goal of mine; it's a win-win situation.”
The Program’s curriculum will start with the bigger picture: a background on why native revegetation is important. Topics ranging from invasive vs native plants, the importance of watersheds, and the process of connecting to the river on a personal level will be covered. The workforce crew will visit nearby restoration projects to get a better sense of what this Program aims to achieve east of Downtown Reno. They hope to also build a greenhouse, helping them to experience the full lifecycle of a tree, while gaining the emotional investment that comes from watching plants grow. The Program will begin with removing invasive trees and reestablishing native trees along the Truckee’s riverbank and upland areas. Other work includes protecting and pruning existing trees from beaver damage. According to Tan, the Program will also “include community outreach and engagement throughout the process.”
What Are Invasive Trees – and Why Care?
Unlike native trees, which evolved over time to play vital roles in our local ecosystem, invasive species spread and reproduce rapidly, outcompeting just about everything else. That means less food, less habitat, and less security for local wildlife that depend on the native trees in our ecosystem. Most often, invasive species are introduced as ornamental plants. In time, it’s discovered that there’s a fine line between a “hardy” garden plant and one that’s near impossible to control.
When we talk about invasives along the Truckee River, Trees of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is one of the most problematic within our river corridor. It’s a Chinese/Japanese species that grows everywhere: in poor soils, with little water, even in cracks in the sidewalk. Once established, it alters soils to prevent other plants from growing nearby, causes allergies, is a host to insect pests, and can grow 10-15 feet per year.
It’s also incredibly difficult to get rid of. Tree of Heaven reproduces through both pollination (with over 300,000 seeds per year) and its root system – sending out “suckers” underground to sprout new trees up to 50 feet away. To remove Tree of Heaven along this 3-mile stretch of the Truckee River, our workforce crew will remove them by adding approved water-safe herbicides carefully to cut surfaces, monitoring stumps for regrowth over several months, and ensuring replanted natives trees in Program areas successfully reestablish themselves, supporting the a thriving local ecosystem.
Additionally, Siberian Elm, Russian Olive, and other invasive trees can cause problems in our watershed. They’ll be monitored within the Program area, along the Truckee River Corridor.
Workforce Development
Removing these invasive trees is hard work and only one part of the new Workforce Program. A larger part of our work is providing on-the-job training and certification opportunities to local residents with barriers to job-entry in tree care, urban and community forestry, and biodiversity. To do this we’re recruiting Workforce Program crew participants from Crossroads. Crossroads is an initiative led by Washoe County and managed by RISE - for residents who have identified Substance Use Disorder and other co-occurring disorders as barriers to achieving sustainable housing. At Crossroads, participants reside in the program as long as they need to work through a series of phases preparing them for the next stages of their lives – anywhere from 8 months to a couple years. As participants advance through Crossroad’s phases, they move from a supervised environment to living situations that offer more autonomy and privacy, while still receiving support.
In the Senior and Transition phases, where workforce development becomes the focus, RISE Executive Director Ben Castro shares “I think what we really tackle is people’s sense of self-worth and their ability to achieve and sustain housing. What brings people out of this program is a higher sense of purpose and being able to contribute back to their community, learning new skills and sustaining a healthy and happy livelihood.” He’s excited about the level of expertise and resources that will be provided through the Workforce Program. Through exposure to this knowledge, he sees them developing new skill sets over 18 months, creating opportunities to kickstart their careers.
Our Vision:
“Investing in people is an environmental act. I am excited about bringing human service and environmental work together to address the unique challenges along the Truckee River Corridor in the urban core. With more funding we can scale the Program up to expand,” shares One Truckee River Executive Director, Iris Jehle-Peppard
Parks and open spaces are critical for encouraging enjoyment and stewardship of our natural environment, protecting water quality, and creating equitable access to the Truckee River. The new Workforce Program supports the overall One Truckee River Management Plan in several areas – and we’re excited to be getting started on this important work!