LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Thousands of trees are being given away for free. Clark County is providing up to two trees per household to make Southern Nevada greener, cooler, and more livable. Friday, FOX5 was there as the first trees were given out, the kickoff of the Community Canopy Project.
Inside the Winchester Dondero Cultural Center in East Las Vegas, classrooms were transformed into a nursery stocked with a variety of plants that thrive in the desert like Texas Oak and Velvet Mesquite.
“I am so excited to get more trees in my yard,” exclaimed Susy Farray who went home with two trees destined to shade the front of her home including a Texas Oak. The 2,200 trees given out during the fall planting giveaway will help expand Clark County’s tree canopy.
“They went in 72 hours. We were amazed at the quick response,” revealed Kevin McDonald, Public Information Officer for the Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability. Zip codes in East Las Vegas were given preference.
“We are trying to go back in the older neighborhoods that didn’t put them in originally… Going forward we may be able to spread it around but right now we want to just do East Las Vegas where we know it is way too hot,” stated Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom.
East Las Vegas is a hot spot for the urban heat island effect, an area where there’s more concrete and asphalt (materials that hold more heat) than areas with more plants or desert landscape.
“Honestly, in our valley we can’t have grass anymore but we can have trees and use that to mitigate the heat effect because we are getting hotter,” Segerblom argued.
“The last two years, it has just burned up everything I got,” Arthur Hine told FOX5’s Kim Passoth about the plants in his yard. Hine will now be replacing trees, that like many in the valley, were lost to prolonged extreme temperatures. The trees given by Clark County are fit to survive harsh environments and will provide shade for people living around them.
“Yes, we do live in a desert but we hit 120 degrees for the first time ever in Clark County this year… So, the heat continues to go up. We have to find a way to turn the temperature down,” McDonald asserted.
In the spring, another 2,300 trees will be given out. Clark County is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to make this possible. Learn more about the Community Canopy Project here: All In Clark County
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