Just over two years in the making, Forestr.org sprang to life during a family walk through a small wooded area outside the East Bay town of Castro Valley; a redwood forest made up of second- and third-generation trees that shaded luscious fern gullies, swollen creeks, and vibrant wildlife.

These were redwoods planted following the vast deforestation of the East Bay throughout the 1850’s and 1860’s — a time in which it took little more than a decade for all the original redwoods to be logged and utilized in the building of what would become San Francisco.

In mid-2020, the Forestr.org family began their efforts by partnering with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and adopting a two-mile stretch of highway for the purpose of litter removal. This began the first step in their land reclamation plan: The organizing of regularly scheduled “cleaning” events that helped to remove litter from local spaces and free them for fresh growth.

Next steps include the proposal of new tree plantings throughout public and private spaces alike. However, planting itself is simply the beginning of reforestation. With every planting event, the Forestr.org team creates maintenance plans that span five, ten, and fifteen years. These projects are meant not only as a starting point for reforestation, but also to see it take hold and become the community’s lasting deep growth eco-systems.

The final goal of the Forestr.org mission is grounded in the creation of green job opportunities. While the non-profit does promote volunteerism, their true goal is to be able to create green job opportunities that prove our communities can build and support long-term economies of scale based on ecological sustainability.

These works will provide new business opportunities for local arborists, gardeners, landscape architects, maintenance workers, and farmers. The integration of local student and community organizations to learn from field experts will highlight these professions as the ever-green jobs of the future.