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Chicago Region Trees Initiative

Partners of the Chicago Region Trees Initiative

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The Morton Arboretum’s Chicago Region Trees Initiative collaborates with a network of partners, including community, civic, nonprofit, and green industry organizations and businesses.

CRTI has engaged more than 500 partners throughout Illinois, including municipalities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, forest preserves, park districts, private landowners and managers, and other stakeholders. Through these collaborations, CRTI works to inspire tree stewards and build municipal capacity and support for trees, with a focus on environmental equity and disadvantaged communities.

The Chicago Region Trees Initiative and its partners have developed a comprehensive plan to improve the health, diversity, and equitable distribution of the Chicago regional forest. Together, guided by this plan, CRTI and its partners have had a regionwide impact.

CRTI’s collaborations and the possibilities for partnership are wide-ranging. For example, partners may work with CRTI to:

  • Organize community tree plantings
  • Develop new tree protection ordinances
  • Conserve and celebrate oak trees in natural areas and neighborhoods
  • Improve municipalities’ tree-care capacity through staff training, volunteer development, and tree inventories
  • Find funding for community tree care
  • Plan to mitigate the impacts of climate change

Partners who come together in CRTI’s work groups connect with peers, share ideas, and contribute to the program’s planning on topics such as forest composition, tree and green infrastructure, tree risk assessment and management, and tree stewardship and planting.

CRTI welcomes new collaborators! Learn how you or your organization can become a partner of CRTI.

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Partner Project Highlights

Partner Project Highlights

Partner Project Highlights

Here is a sample of the work done by CRTI and its partners across the Chicago region and Illinois.

 

Lake County’s Urban and Community Forestry Strategic Plan

At the December 2025 Lake County Board Meeting, the Lake County Urban and Community Forestry Strategic Plan was approved to outline a long-term vision over the next 10 years for Lake County to create a thriving, connected tree canopy.

This plan also guides efforts across municipalities, park districts, nonprofit partners, and community members throughout the county. CRTI staff partnered with Lake County to align the strategic plan with the CRTI 2050 Master Plan for Trees and served on the steering committee for the plan’s development.

This plan will grow a healthier and more diverse urban forest while also having the benefits of increasing stormwater capture and decreasing flooding, reducing heat in urban areas, improving air quality, boosting health, and providing more greenspaces for better mental health, especially for vulnerable or underserved groups.

 

Urban Forestry Basic Training at Fox Valley Mall

The IAA and CRTI Urban Forestry Basic Training was hosted at the Fox Valley Mall. Attendees got a chance to participate in tree plantings and learn best practices in urban forestry topics like pruning, planting, and protecting trees.

 

Franklin Park’s Tree Preservation Committee Awarded a Planting Tool Kit

The Village of Franklin Park’s Tree Preservation Committee was one of the community groups to be awarded a Planting Tool Kit through CRTI. These tools will increase the group’s ability to take on natural area improvement projects.

 

The Tree & Plant Healing Workshop was a relaxing community event that helped people slow down and reconnect with nature. Participants shared planting experiences, learned simple plant care tips, and practiced mindful breathing with trees. One plant specialist also shared experiences and tips on growing Chinese herbal plants, helping participants appreciate the connection between traditional culture and nature. The session provided a calm space to relieve stress and feel the healing energy of the natural world.

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Become a Partner

Become a Partner

The Morton Arboretum welcomes everyone working to improve the health and the equitable distribution of the tree canopy in the Chicago region to become a partner of its Chicago Region Trees Initiative.

CRTI asks its partners to support its efforts for people and trees in at least one of these ways:

  • Committing to activities that can have a positive impact on the region’s trees and help meet regional goals.
  • Investing staff time or other resources to help achieve the goals outlined in the 2050 Master Plan for Trees.
  • Participating as an active member of a CRTI work group.

Fill out this form to become a CRTI partner and commit to actions that will ensure that trees are healthier, more abundant, more diverse, and more equitably distributed to provide needed benefits to all people and communities in the Chicago region.

There is no fee associated with partnership, though donations and sponsorships are welcome.