Roseville is cool. Literally. More than 20 years ago, the city started a shade tree program to expand its leaf canopy—the spread of treetops across the landscape. Through the program, its administrator, the Roseville Urban Forest Foundation (RUFF), has added more than 16,000 trees to the municipality’s yards, parks, urban areas and open spaces. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, that’s definitely cool, as trees can lower the surface temperatures under them by as much as 45 degrees.

Christine McKenzie, Natalie

 Funded by a contract with Roseville Electric, along with grants and donations, the nonprofit RUFF operates with one part-time staff member, active board members and a lot of dedicated volunteers, many of whom have expertise in some aspect of arboriculture and tree care. “Mostly, though” says Katie Palatinus, a retired science teacher and RUFF’s treasurer for the past 20 years, “we all have a passion to want to continue to increase and maintain the health of Roseville’s tree canopy.”

And a healthy tree canopy means a healthy city, Palatinus says. She cites research that supports a slew of benefits beyond the cooler environment: improved mood from a meditative effect of green spaces, higher grades on tree-covered campuses, a lower crime rate, increased property values, reduced runoff, lower cooling and heating costs, and improved air quality. The later of which, according to Palatinus, occurs because trees produce oxygen, and remove carbon dioxide and other major air pollutants from the atmosphere. “Every time we cut down a tree or burn a tree, the result is exponential,” she says. 

The centerpiece of RUFF’s mission is to not only improve the tree canopy in Roseville, but also demonstrate the value of trees and how to grow them. For the shade tree program, a RUFF volunteer visits homes, either in person or virtually, and recommends species and planting locations for yard trees. The homeowner buys the trees and can apply for a rebate up to $50 of the cost. The organization also helps care for the trees with education and site visits, if necessary. A lot of trees suffered during the drought, Palatinus says, but after the wet winter and RUFF’s encouragement to have homeowners add water-conserving drip lines or soakers, many failing trees are now returning to health. 

Katie Palatinus 

In the city’s open spaces, RUFF works with Roseville’s urban forester to restore some of the oak woodland that once thrived there with mass plantings of appropriate species—primarily valley, blue and live oaks—and stewardship. The organization also educates the community by conducting pruning and irrigation clinics, and involves youngsters by purchasing tree-related library books and recruiting volunteers to read them to elementary schoolers. 

In November, the organization will plant oak trees into open spaces, and in January volunteers will conduct pruning clinics.  rosevilletree.org 

By Linda Holderness // Photos by Dante Fontana © Style Media Group