Get outside with your family to complete the River Forest Tree Trails: On Your Block activity sheet. This unique, fun and socially distant way to get to know the trees on your block was created by the River Forest Sustainability Commission.
Learn about the distinct features of the species of trees that you see every day on the parkway between your sidewalk and the curb. In times like these, it’s important to connect not only with your family, but also with the earth on which you walk and the trees that give us all oxygen to breathe.
Completing the activity is easy and fun!
- Print the activity sheet, which can be found here: River Forest Tree Trails: On Your Block.
- Answer the fun fill-in-the-blank questions about the different species of trees that live on the parkway right outside your front door. Visit the Village parkway tree map to answer the fun fill-in-the-blank questions.
Special thanks:
The River Forest Tree Trails activity was created via the volunteer efforts of two young adult River Forest residents with guidance from the River Forest Sustainability Commission. Ellie Raidt conceived and prototyped the activity. Ellie is a sophomore at Oak Park River Forest High School and a student commissioner on the River Forest Sustainability Commission. Nick Taira designed the activity sheet. Nick is a recent graduate of Dominican University with a degree in Graphic Design.
Did you know?
- The Village of River Forest maintains over 8,000 trees, including over 90 species, on our parkways.
- Trees mitigate climate change by storing carbon, reduce energy costs by providing shade, reduce flooding by capturing stormwater, and improve air quality by removing pollutants from the air.
- River Forest trees remove 514 metric tons of carbon annually from the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of 218 homes' energy use for one year or over 240 million smartphones charged!
Tree City USA
The Village of River Forest has been a Tree City USA Community since 1998. The National Arbor Day Foundation has named River Forest a Tree City USA community based on the following standards: having a forestry division, a tree care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance.
Arboretum Accreditation
The Village of River Forest has been awarded a Level 1 Accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum, for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism. River Forest is also now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.
About ArbNet
ArbNet is an interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta. ArbNet facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience, and other resources to help arboreta meet their institutional goals and works to raise professional standards through the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. The accreditation program, sponsored and coordinated by The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois in cooperation with American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta based on a set of professional standards. The program offers four levels of accreditation, recognizing arboreta of various degrees of development, capacity and professionalism. Standards include planning, governance, public access, programming and tree science, planting and conservation. More information is available at www.arbnet.org.