State Farm, is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to help restore areas that have been devastated by natural disasters across the country. These efforts will range from restoring natural forests that were affected by wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, to helping plant and distribute trees around local communities where natural disasters have created local challenges such as urban heat islands.
Starting this spring and continuing throughout the year, State farm will be involved in 20 unique forest and community tree-planting projects located across 15 different states, totaling in at over 250,000 trees planned on being planted. As an insurance company, State Farm understands the importance of providing relief to damage-stricken communities and being a “good neighbor” to those customers who are enduring uncontrollable hardships. Going the extra the mile to provide physical assistance to the areas in which their customers live is just one of the many goals we hope to achieve through this partnership.
“Trees play a vital role in the stability of our communities and their resilience against disaster,” said State Farm Vice President of Administrative Services Jenny Greminger, who oversees the company’s environmental sustainability team. “Replanting in a strategic way will help impacted areas recover and potentially better withstand severe weather in the future.”
One of the communities State Farm is providing disaster relief for is Paradise, California, which in 2018 saw one of the worst wildfire seasons that ended up destroying many people’s homes and properties throughout the area. This project will distribute 10,000 seedlings to landowners who are still recovering from the extreme loss that occurred. These seedlings will one day provide the natural protection and assistance to current and future landowners, as well as provide much needed health-benefits to the surrounding localities.
Another project will be located in Boulder, Colorado. In 2013, Boulder was one of the first cities in Colorado to identify the presence of the emerald ash borer, a devastating pest that is 100% deadly to untreated ash trees. Ash trees account for more than 25% of Boulder’s urban tree canopy, and are a significant contribution to environmental, public health, and socio-economic benefit to the community. The emerald ash borer has spread throughout the state’s forests and community canopies, and trees are desperately needed for their recovery.
In Houston, Texas, efforts to provide hurricane relief have also been established. After Hurricane Harvey poured nearly 1.2 trillion gallons of rainfall in the Houston area, more than 200,000 housing units in Harris County were damaged, nearly all of them outside the federally regulated 100-year flood plain, leaving tens of thousands of homeowners uninsured. Not only do trees provide wonderful benefits to the environment, but they also serve as an inexpensive form of flood mitigation. Houston lost, and will continue to lose, thousands of trees due to Hurricane Harvey, and we will be dedicated to replanting those trees with State Farm’s assistance this fall.
With so many projects already planned, the Arbor Day Foundation is very excited in teaming up with State Farm to make a difference in the communities that are so important to so many people. We take pride in helping individuals and businesses plant, educate, and celebrate trees in their communities, and we look forward to seeing the beneficial impact these projects will have on our local and national environments.
