TUCKED INTO the northeastern quadrant of Columbus, Ohio, hugging the side of I-71, is the neighborhood of Linden. Incorporated into Columbus in the 1920s, Linden has been targeted by redlining, blockbusting and predatory loans in the decades since, systematically depriving the community of resources and affecting everything from community health to property values and, of course, tree canopy. Despite the decades of targeted disinvestment, the community strives to provide for itself what it has been historically denied — equity.

Situated on a once-empty lot in the center of Linden, the Green Columbus Tree Nursery raises 3,000 trees annually to be planted in surrounding neighborhoods that need them most. The nursery, established in 2019 with support from JP Morgan, marked the start of a rich partnership between Green Columbus and American Forests. Each fall, every tree is donated to local restoration groups, brought to community events in target areas, and loaded into residents’ cars during giveaway events. To spread the word about the giveaway, Green Columbus Executive Director Shelly Douglas engages neighborhoods with low tree canopy to explain the benefits of trees.

In 2023, Green Columbus became the local co-lead in creating the Columbus and Franklin County Tree Equity Score Analyzer. The analyzer is a free, publicly accessible decision- making tool developed by American Forests with support from Google that takes a deep dive into the needs of specific communities to help local stakeholders build a roadmap to Tree Equity. Launched in February 2024, the analyzer verified what many, including Douglas, suspected: “This is the story through most of the country, and definitely in Columbus; low tree canopy areas overlap with communities of color and low-income communities.”

That lack of canopy has far-reaching effects. “It’s hard to walk on the sidewalks to the bus stop or find usable green space in the community because of the heat,” says Douglas.

The analyzer is more than a planning tool for stakeholders, it’s a powerful communication method
for audiences not yet invested in Tree Equity. The tool paints a clear picture of the correlation between tree canopy data, socioeconomic indicators and the social benefits of trees.

“I can use the map to zoom into their neighborhood and show the Tree Equity Score and all the social risk indicators that go into that,” explains Douglas. “And then scroll five minutes down the road to the wealthier neighborhood. That’s always when I see people start picking up their heads and taking pictures. It’s hard to deny with numbers like that in front of you, and since the map is color coded, it’s very digestible.”

The launch of the Columbus and Franklin County Tree Equity Score Analyzer marked the first time the region’s data was merged and made publicly available, innovatively illustrating the stark discrepancies between neighborhoods with impactful visual aids.

“It shows people that they’re allowed to ask for these benefits,” says Douglas. “It’s not something lacking equally across the city. It’s an inequitable distribution of trees. That’s been the most powerful takeaway so far.”