COS 150 Tree Challenge

COS 150 Tree Challenge

Make a donation to help plant a tree!
150 Trees
Make a donation to help plant a tree!


The City of Colorado Springs is celebrating 150 years!

As part of their Sesquicentennial celebrations, the City has challenged businesses, homeowners, organizations and schools to collectively plant 18,071 trees by July 2021 to honor General Palmer's legacy of land stewardship.

UCCS has accepted this challenge and will be planting 150 trees on campus, and we need your help. Click the button above to support increasing our tree canopy.

Details on how you can engage and volunteer will be provided on this website. Mark your calendars for late April to help us dig in the dirt and create a lasting legacy on the UCCS campus. 



UCCS has received a $1,500 grant from the Colorado Tree Coalition that will be matched by the UCCS Office of Sustainability. The Colorado Tree Coalition awarded $43,298 in grants to 15 organizations in 2020 thanks to funding from the CTC, the Xcel Energy Foundation and the Xcel Energy Vegetation Management Program. Together with matching funds, this helped plant 780 trees across Colorado. Since 1991, the Colorado Tree Coalition has awarded 528 grants totaling more than a million dollars, resulting in more than 75,000 trees being planted throughout the state.

 

COS 150 Tree Challenge

How can you get involved with trees at UCCS?

  1. Engage in Research | UCCS Tree Ring Lab

    Get involved with the UCCS Tree Ring Lab! Established in 2018, the Tree Ring Lab is a group of faculty and students who use dendrochronology, or the study of annual growth rings in trees, to investigate issues of climate change, forest dynamics, fire history, ecological disturbance, and human-environment interactions.
  2. Participate in an Internship

    The Office of Sustainability supports internship opportunities each semester. Learn how you can engage in the topics of trees as either a volunteer position or as part of course credit. 
  3. Get Grant Funding | Green Action Fund

    The Green Action Fund is a student-led committee that supports sustainable efforts on campus through grant funding. Check out the ways the committee has supported trees at UCCS or apply for funding for your own project!
  4. Sustainable Landscapes | Sustainability Demonstration House

    Thanks to funding from the Colorado Garden Foundation and the UCCS Green Action Fund and in-kind support from Weisburg Landscape, the Sustainability Demonstration House is currently working on redesigning the front yard landscape to provide realistic, eye-catching ways to integrate sustainable practices into your landscape. Learn about that project and other ways to make your home or apartment more sustainable here. 

Want to plant your own tree, too? Learn more here.

  1. Choose the Right Tree for the Right Place!

    Each tree is different and has different needs. What is your right plant, right place?
  2. Getting Ready to Plant

    After you have identified the best tree for your preferred location in your yard, now let's talk about best practices for planting!

    • No matter where on your property, call before you dig! Call 811 or submit a request online to have underground utilities marked. Steer clear of these flags to stay safe and ensure you do not destroy important underground facilities.
    • If you are planting in a City right of way, you must request a permit.
  3. Planting Best Practices

    Now it's time to dig! If you don't own a shovel, ask a neighbor or friend. You might even reach out to your local community garden for resources.

    Be sure to follow these guidelines on how deep and wide to dig the hole along with best practices of creating a mulch nest to help retain water to give your tree the best chance of establishing and thriving. 
  4. Care and Maintenance

    Now that your tree(s) in the ground, make sure you care for it over the next three years to help its roots become established and help it thrive throughout our Colorado seasons. Depending on the tree, you'll want to continue providing watering if we are experiencing a drought or low-precipitation year. 

    Learn about watering practices here.
Celebrate

Learn about other ways the City is celebrating their 150th Anniversary!

What other ways is UCCS celebrating?

UCCS is proud to call Colorado Springs home. Now the 39th largest and most desirable city to live in the United States, Colorado Springs arose from a humble but meaningful beginning in 1871. Now through July 31, 2021 the Colorado Springs community will embark on a communitywide celebration of our city’s rich history, a celebration in which UCCS will take part.

the logo of the City of Colorado Springs plus the number 150 representing how many years it has been in existance

In partnership with the City of Colorado Springs, we invite you to attend one or more (or all!) of the five opportunities below to expand your knowledge of the Colorado Springs community.
 

  • Wednesday, February 17, 5:30-6:15pm, YouTube Live | UCCS & Colorado Springs - Growing Up Together, Provost Emerita Dr. Peg Bacon
  • Thursday, March 18, 5:30-6:15pm, Zoom | Chasing the Cure: The Archaeology of Cragmor Tuberculosis Sanatorium | Dr. Karin Larkin, UCCS Dept of Anthropology
  • Saturday, April 10, 2:00-3:00pm, Zoom | Exploring our Urban Forest (in Partnership with Colorado Spring Pioneer Museum), Dr. Christine Biermann, UCCS Dept of Geography & Environmental Studies and Dennis Will, City Forester
  • TBD May 2021 | Colorado Springs Past, Present and Future: Health & Wellness

Learn more and RSVP for these events here.