The Houston Heights Association will dedicate the Yale Green Corridor during its Annual Urban Forestry Gift of Trees Day celebration, set for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 18. In addition to activities and events to be held at the Heights Fire Station located at 12th and Yale, Trees for Houston and the Houston Heights Association will distribute 150 to 300 three- and five-gallon containers of native trees for planting in Houston yards, businesses or right of ways.
Comprising trees originally planted in the late 1980s by Trees for Yale volunteers with assistance from Trees for Houston and the Greater Heights Chamber of Commerce, the Yale Green Corridor, which runs from 6th Street to 19th Street, provides 1.6 miles of protected, mature trees, forming a canopy along the thoroughfare. Nearly 30 years later, this stretch of Yale Street was designated as the city’s first green corridor through a vote by the Houston City Council in June.

“The creation of Houston’s first green corridor in the Heights is important in further protecting over 200 trees funded, planted and nurtured by Heights neighbors,” Jonathan Smulian, a longtime Heights resident, said. “These mature trees act as a buffer to ever increasing commuter through-traffic, provide shade for pedestrians and connect with the hike and bike trail that runs all the way to Downtown. This is the first use of Houston’s 1991 Green Corridor ordinance, which has the potential for the creation of similar green corridors in many districts citywide.”

Smulian and fellow members of the Houston Heights Association Urban Forestry Committee Mark Williamson, Donna Bennett and Angela DeWree were instrumental in obtaining the designation and hope it will stimulate property owners to plant more substantial trees on major thoroughfares in the future.

Trees for Houston and the Houston Heights Association will distribute the trees throughout the event. Reserve trees by contacting [email protected]. The adoptions are open to anyone in Houston. Come early for the best selection with assistance from Houston and Texas urban foresters.

The Annual Urban Forestry Gift of Trees Day celebration will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Heights Fire Station, with the Yale Green Corridor dedication set for 1 p.m. All Houstonians are invited to stop by the fire station to adopt a tree, witness history in the making and enjoy refreshments with some of Houston’s dignitaries.