California Clean Air Day

For the third consecutive year, the Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) Foundation is participating in California Clean Air Day, an annual statewide initiative to recognize the importance of clean air in our communities. California Clean Air Day engages Californians in collective action to reduce air pollution, protect public health and connect with their communities. This year, the Foundation has partnered with Davey Resource Group and SDG&E to present an educational discussion about native trees and distributed native trees and shrubs at the event. The Foundation is tabling at the park on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 to educate the public about the annual program and gather Clean Air Pledges from park users.

In 2020, the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation received a microgrant from the Coalition for Clean Air to produce a video about some of the native trees of MTRP and another about how to properly plant trees. The videos’ host is MTRP Ranger Heidi Gutknecht, who shares characteristics about the trees, which can be grown at home, and demonstrate how trees should be planted and maintained. And, of course, Ranger Heidi discusses how crucially important trees are in improving air quality.

After watching the videos and exploring the below resources, our hope is that you will be inspired to plant trees, whether native, ornamental, or fruit trees. Many thanks to the Coalition for Clean Air and SDG&E for underwriting the production of the videos, which were produced by the MTRP Foundation with camera and editing by Darren Kawasaki.

You can participate in California Clean Air Day by taking the Clean Air Pledge! There’s a pledge for both children and adults, so even the little ones can help take steps to clean our air.

Clean Air Pledge for Adults Clean Air Pledge for Teens Clean Air Pledge for Elementary Students Clean Air Pledge for Middle Schoolers

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Resources

Articles and Reports

• • Benefits of Trees from Canopy.org: https://canopy.org/tree-info/benefits-of-trees/
  • Health Benefits of Trees from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/07/trees-good/375129/
  • California Urban Canopy Cover Report from Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171204172856.htm
  • US Forest Service White Paper: The Effects of Urban Trees on Air Quality: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/units/urban/local-resources/downloads/Tree_Air_Qual.pdf

Trees, Tree Selection and Nurseries

• • Moosa Creek Nursery (Valley Center and local retailers): http://www.moosacreeknursery.com/
  • Native West Nursery (South Bay): nativewest.com
  • Tree of Life Nursery (San Juan Capistrano and local retailers): https://californianativeplants.com/
  • Walter Andersen (Midway Area and Poway): https://www.walterandersen.com/
  • City Farmers Nursery (Central San Diego/City Heights): https://www.cityfarmersnursery.com/
  • Hunter’s Nursery (Lemon Grove): http://www.huntersnursery.com/
  • Calscape Native Plant Database: https://calscape.org/
  • UFEI Tree Selection: https://selectree.calpoly.edu
  • Urban Tree Foundation on Nursery quality: http://www.urbantree.org/nurserytreequality.shtml
  • Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott Bare-Root Primer https://www.slideshare.net/LindaCS/bare-root-primer

Tree Groups and Additional Resources

• • California ReLeaf https://californiareleaf.org/whytrees/
  • California Urban Forest Council https://caufc.org
  • San Diego Regional Urban Forestry Council https://sdrufc.com
  • Sactree https://www.sactree.com/pages/88
  • TreePeople https://www.treepeople.org/treedeath
  • Kate Sessions Trees https://www.katesessionstrees.org
  • Tree San Diego https://www.treesandiego.org/urban-forest-benefits
  • California Native Plant Society-San Diego Chapter https://www.cnpssd.org/
  • Free Tree Program for the City of San Diego: https://www.sandiego.gov/blog/free-tree-sd