The Urban Forestry team at Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) and APANO will host an Arbor Day Celebration in Harrison Park at 2101 SE 84th Avenue on Saturday, October 17th. This free, family-friendly event is open to everyone from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with tree-related activities and bucket-truck lift rides for children. The PP&R Yard Tree Giveaway team will hand out over 200 free trees to people who register in advance, and attendees can plant 15 new trees, enjoy tree-themed activities, live performances, and free food from area Jade District vendors.
Arbor Day celebrations have been a Portland tradition since 1889. America recognizes the annual observance on the last Friday in April; however, Portland Celebrates Arbor Day in October due to the changing climate. Planting outside the dry summer months lets newly planted trees receive a natural autumn soaking from the rainy weather. The day has become more significant for people interested in growing the urban tree canopy. Planting trees is often identified as a way to mitigate some of the effects of rising temperatures by shading pavement and sidewalks. This lowers the temperature directly under the tree and can also reduce ambient air temperature in communities with significant tree coverage.
This Arbor Day celebration marks Portland’s 50th year holding a Tree City USA designation. The Arbor Day Foundation recognizes this achievement as part of its work, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. The U.S. Forest Service provided Inflation Reduction Act-sourced funding for this year’s Arbor Day celebration in Portland. The Meyer Memorial Trust also provided additional support.
People looking to embrace car-free travel to the event can join the Arbor Day Bike Bus with the Bureau of Transportation. It starts at 9 a.m. from Glenhaven Park’s BIKETOWN station at NE 81st Avenue and NE Siskiyou Street, with stops along the way to join the pack. If participants need to borrow a bike, they can request free BIKETOWN rental codes by emailing claire.bach@portlandoregon.gov.
In addition to the vertical rides to the top of the trees in a real PP&R Urban Forestry bucket truck, people can enjoy music, live performances, free food, and games for all ages. The event programming will recognize this year’s Bill Naito Community Trees Award winners. The annual award honors the late builder and community leader who helped found the Urban Forestry Commission in 1974 and chaired it until his death.
With Portland’s Arbor Day celebrations scheduled for Harrison Park this Saturday, people in Montavilla and surrounding neighborhoods can easily access this free event. Last year’s event took place at Sacajawea Head Start in the Cully neighborhood. In 2024, it was held at Glenfair Park in East Portland. The Arbor Day events focus on these communities because they have fewer trees in urban areas than other parts of the city west of 82nd Avenue. In a 2010 to 2016 inventory, not a single neighborhood east of 82nd Avenue met the citywide average canopy coverage of 30.7%, excluding natural areas like Powell Butte. Since then, many Urban Forestry efforts have worked to address this inequity through focused tree giveaway programs targeting impacted neighborhoods and holding events closer to where trees are needed to help lower summer temperatures that spike in those hot spots. The Arbor Day event can be an effective way for Portlanders to celebrate trees and their role in improving communities while having a good time in a city park.
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