If you can’t beat it, eat it! Five ways to use invasive black mustard

If you live in Southern California, you’re probably familiar with the ubiquitous black mustard plant. Every spring, its bright yellow flowers blanket our hillsides, freeway medians, parks—basically, anywhere there’s a patch of dirt, mustard will grow. It’s a plant that thrives in disturbed areas—and unfortunately, it often disturbs the habitat around it, too. Considered invasive…

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From fire damage to flourishing habitat: TreePeople kicks off $7 million mountain restoration effort

Fire has always been a natural part of California’s ecology. But in recent years, climate change and decreasing biodiversity have resulted in more frequent and larger wildfires in the Angeles National Forest and the adjacent wildland-urban interface. That’s why on May 16, 2024, TreePeople and California Botanic Garden (CalBG) kicked off a $7 million initiative…

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Community-Centered Branding: TreePeople’s Logo History

The year is 1970. At a summer camp in the San Bernardino Mountains, a 15-year-old “leadership camper” named Andy Lipkis learns that air pollution from the city is killing Southern California’s forests. It was a striking realization for the budding environmentalist—one that stuck with him until college, and inspired the school project that would change…

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How TreePeople is Greening Schoolyards

In the preface to Claire Latané’s Schools That Heal, she reminds us that “It is hard to make healthy schools. Even in neighborhoods that have plenty of resources, most school environments fall short of supporting students’ mental and physical health and well-being.” TreePeople’s School Greening initiative aims to collaborate with school communities to reimagine how…

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The Urban Forest Loses a Giant: Mourning the Loss of Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne

The urban forestry community lost a giant with the sudden passing of Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne on January 6. Jarlath led a globally respected lab that used high-resolution imagery of the earth to map land cover in our complex urban landscapes at fine level of detail with astounding accuracy. The work of Jarlath’s Spatial Analysis Lab at…

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Reducing Waste During the Holidays

It’s beginning to (finally) feel and look like the holiday season here in SoCal! With all of the gifts you’ve been giving and receiving recently, you might be looking around at all your wrapping paper, decorations, and food and wondering, “isn’t this wasteful?” Fortunately, we have discovered some creative ways to go green (without turning…

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How to Know if Your Tree is Dead (Or Just Dormant)

Here in Southern California, we see green year-round thanks to our many evergreen trees; however, you’ll still notice plenty of trees that appear dead in the winter. SoCal is home to many deciduous trees, including Sycamores, Redbuds, and California Buckeyes. Once the weather shifts, these trees lose their leaves and start to enter dormancy, which…

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The Ultimate Gift Guide For People Who Love Nature

Looking for the perfect gift for the environmental enthusiast in your life? Give them the gift of a greener Earth (and some cool merch) with TreePeople’s holiday gift guide! For the one who has everything: Tree Dedications are symbolic gifts that grow! Donations given through Tree Dedications support our mountain forest restoration and urban greening…

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Celebrating Cindy Montañez: A Driving Force Behind TreePeople’s Remarkable Growth and Impact

TreePeople, a leading environmental nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a sustainable future for Southern California, celebrates the life and remarkable achievements of CEO Cindy Montañez who passed away on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Since assuming her role in 2016, Montañez’s unwavering dedication, innovative vision, and commitment to environmental sustainability have driven TreePeople’s extraordinary growth and…

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