At SGN Trees, we are proud to be one of partner nurseries working to restore the Chicago region’s urban forest through the Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI). CRTI is a partnership of communities, individuals, organizations, green industry, businesses, and governments working together to develop and implement strategies for a healthier, more diverse, more equitable urban forest by 2050.
Chicago’s regional forest is critical infrastructure, a community asset, that needs protection and improvement. Trees clean our air and water, reduce flooding, save energy, improve property values, provide habitat for wildlife, and contribute significant social and health benefits to people. In short, trees improve our quality of life.
But the region’s trees are threatened by many challenges including invasive plants and pests, development, and a lack of funding for planting and proper care. As the largest initiative of its kind in the United States, CRTI leverages funding, knowledge, skills, and expertise to reach the goals of its comprehensive Master Plan. Our nursery is joining with over 200+ organizations help grow a greener, healthier, and more sustainable Chicago region!
The CRTI partnership began in 2014 with a vision to make the Chicago region the greenest, most livable, most resilient region in North America. We became involved as a partner from the start – collaborating on best practices, contract growing, nursery growing insights, species diversity lists, municipal plantings – basically any way we can lend our expertise and trees! Becky Thomas currently serves on the Trees & Green Infrastructure Work Group and both Becky & Jamie have been involved in plans for contract growing. Our SGN Trees have already been planted on several CRTI projects, and we are looking forward to seeing our trees on many more in the coming years!
The CRTI website has a wealth of information about trees and how you can get involved. The Interactive Canopy Map is fascinating. You can look at canopy statistics for every neighborhood in the Chicago region and zoom in species breakdown and benefits. The Interactive Priority Story Map takes it one step further, identifying areas of importance to plant trees. For a complete overview, the CRTI Master Plan 2050 outlines the overall program goals and objectives to achieve 22% canopy cover by 2050. The Morton Arboretum Northern Illinois Tree Selector is a helpful tool in researching the right tree for the right spot.
At Spring Grove Nursery, we grow healthy trees, deep roots, and strong communities. Our partnership with CRTI allows us to grow towards a future aligned with our vision. We invite you to join us this season and plant for the future!
Benefits of Trees
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