Cape Loves Trees! Free Tree Giveaway 2025

Our Speaker Event this month features Joan Maloof, author, activist and expert. She will discuss the special attributes of ancient forests, and the unique biodiversity they contain. She will discuss the work of the Old-Growth Forest Network, a non-profit she founded, and share pointers for preserving ancient forests. She is the author of numerous books about trees and forests.

Joan’s talk is the perfect tie-in to the Cape Conservation Corps’ recent giveaway—FREE TREES for the Cape!  Last spring we began a program to give away 50 native trees to 25 Cape households in partnership with Watershed Stewards Academy and their Tree Troopers program.   We published the application and were flooded with responses; we filled up the 25 spots in 3 weeks.  We had several “wait listed” that we ended up accepting.  The final total?  31 households received a total of 57 native trees – from red buds, serviceberry, oaks, black gum, and river birch, to dogwood, sweet bay magnolia, and persimmon. These native trees will add to the biodiversity of the Cape landscape, support wildlife, clean the air, protect the streams and soil, prevent/slow erosion, and improve our overall health.  If you received a tree, we thank you for doing your part!!

Our Free Tree Program was such a success we look forward to offering it next year!  Keep your eye on the late spring Caper for the application.  

One of the best parts of reading everyone’s application was seeing the responses to our question “Why do you want free trees?”  The answers reflected many of the reasons I stated above, like to prevent erosion, clean the air, and just being good for the planet. Many people were replacing trees they had lost to fire, invasive vines, home renovation projects or old age/disease.  Many of them stated they wanted to add beauty to their yard, create or add to wildlife friendly landscapes, create shade for their family or replace a non-native tree.  Several people are planting a tree in memorial for a loved one.  And one applicant stated “because I want to grow green things, not cut them down”.  Their answers reflect the diversity they are creating, as well as all the wonderful attributes trees provide us!