TreeCovery Fund
A fund that provides trees and establishment materials to Texas communities affected by natural disasters.
Trees and forests provide many ecological, environmental, social, and health benefits. Over the last few decades, Texas has lost millions of trees – and their benefits – to natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, tornados, drought, ice storms, flooding, insects, and diseases.
With money made through the sales of the Famous Trees of Texas, Centennial Edition, we established a dedicated fund for TreeCovery to help communities affected by natural disasters. The fund is now fully supported by public donations.
The TreeCovery fund helps recover and reforest impacted communities.
Donate
Your donation to the TreeCovery fund helps provide trees and establishment materials to Texas communities affected by natural disasters.
About
After disaster strikes and first responders have gone, you’re left to rebuild damaged homes, businesses, and landscapes. We offer recovery support for distributing and planting trees. Bringing communities together around a common goal – restoring lost tree canopy.
We restore the places where you live, work, and play with:
- Trees sourced from Texas wholesale nurseries
- Region-appropriate species
- 15-gallon trees in lots of 10
- Watering bags or other establishment support for TreeCovery trees
We encourage community groups like tree boards, 4-H, civic groups, and volunteer fire departments to take the lead role in projects with us.
Eligible communities
Eligible communities are determined by the Governor’s requests for federal disaster declaration. Funds are available to organizations or communities for planting around schools, parks, and other public buildings.
TreeCovery leads to community recovery
The TreeCovery fund supports tree planting in public spaces following storms and other disasters. Partners come alongside to support tree distribution for homeowners and residents.
Hurricane Harvey
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey damaged Rockport and Port Aransas destroying thousands of trees. In response to the disaster, we developed a plan to reforest these hard-hit communities. In coordination with Arbor Day Foundation, we helped organize Annual Tree Recovery Giveaways to restore the landscape.
Through this partnership, 6,480 trees were distributed between 2018 – 2022. Over the next 20 years the trees are estimated to provide approximately $617,430 in benefits to the communities.
Blanco River flooding
In 2016, the Arbor Day Foundation, RETREET, TreeFolks, and Texas A&M Forest Service helped distribute and plant trees along the Blanco River where high-velocity flood waters destroyed many trees.
Rockhouse Fire
The Big Bend Native Plant Society, the West Texas Urban Forestry Council, Mountain States Wholesale Nursery, and One Way Nursery partnered to distribute and plant trees for homeowners who suffered loss during the devastating 2011 Rockhouse Fire in Jeff Davis County.
Fort Davis
In 2012, we hosted a 2,000-tree giveaway of assorted hardwood seedlings from our West Texas Nursery.
Possum Kingdom community’s wildfire recovery
We partnered with Oncor Electric Delivery and RETREET in 2012 to distribute almost 1,000 free trees to the fire-ravaged Possum Kingdom communities of The Cliffs, Gaines Bend, and Sportsman’s World.
2013 Tornado
Following a devastating tornado in 2013, we partnered with the city of Cleburne, H-E-B, RETREET, and Texas Trees Foundation to give away 300 trees to homeowners to replace trees lost.
Bastrop County Complex
We offered technical assistance and over 50,000 “Lost Pines” and hardwood seedlings, through both plantings and giveaways as part of the multi-agency, multi-year Bastrop reforestation effort following the Bastrop County Complex of 2011.
1997 tornado
Over 300 trees donated by central Texas area nurseries were given away to neighborhoods in Jerrell and Spicewood following the destructive 1997 tornado.
2011 wildfire season
We partnered with Anheuser-Busch to distribute over 500 trees through Texas ReLeaf to residents of Grimes, Montgomery, and Waller Counties. Three areas hit hard by the 2011 wildfire season.