CanopyBloomington was founded in 2021 in light of the information gleaned from the 2019 city inventory performed by Davey Resource Group, which found that Bloomington’s tree canopy is decreasing especially on private property. Compounding factors such as development and climate change impacts make it harder for our trees to thrive and we need to work cooperatively to steward them to ensure they will grow into healthy and long-lived trees. Additionally, there are areas in Bloomington that are lacking sufficient canopy cover and the resulting benefits, and we want to change that.

No. CanopyBloomington is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit that partners with the City of Bloomington. We rely entirely on donations and grants to fund our organization and on volunteers to help us plant trees. The City of Bloomington has an Urban Forestry sector within the Parks and Recreation Department who plant, manage, and care for city-owned trees.

The City of Bloomington’s urban forestry staff plant and provide care to trees within the city’s right-of-way, within parks, and on any other city-owned land. Currently, CanopyBloomington focuses on planting and caring for trees on private property within residential areas, community spaces, and businesses/nonprofits.

Currently, our operations are generally restricted to urban areas within the city limits of Bloomington.

We’ve used the 2019 Bloomington Urban Canopy Cover Assessment data and American Community Survey data to identify target areas within Bloomington that can be planted within to increase both environmental and social equity. Our analysis assesses urban heat island effect, proximity to hardscape and existing canopy, floodplain data, slope, soil permeability, erosion potential, population density, and race and income distribution to create a combined metric to locate ideal planting locations on private land. We prioritize planting in level 1, or high priority, areas as indicated by this analysis. For more in-depth information, please visit our "Tree Standards and Prioritization" page.

We focus on planting deciduous hardwood trees. We order our trees from Woody Warehouse, a native tree nursery in Lizton, Indiana. The trees we purchase are between 1-2 inches in diameter and are between 6-7 feet tall. They vary in mature size stature, from large canopy species like oak to smaller ornamental species like dogwoods. Our inventory varies from order to order. We currently do not order evergreen trees due to their poor performance in our changing climate.

We are gearing up to launch tree walks and tree workshops! For more information and to sign up, visit our "Services" page. Additionally, we’re happy to give a presentation at your NA meeting, work event, etc.