Las Vegas Offers Free Trees to Combat Heat in Six ZIP Codes

As part of an effort to combat the effects of urban heat and provide additional green space, the city of Las Vegas is providing drought-tolerant trees to residents in six ZIP codes free of charge.

Residents in ZIP codes 89101, 89102, 89104, 89106, 89107, and 89110 can apply online through the city's website to receive a tree, professional planting, and an irrigation system at no cost. Those areas were identified as having the highest temperatures due to limited canopy cover and dense concentrations of concrete, asphalt, and traffic.

The program is backed by $5 million in federal funding and supports the city's 2050 Master Plan goal to plant 60,000 drought-tolerant trees across Las Vegas. The Las Vegas City Council adopted its Urban Forestry Program in 2022 to advance that goal.

"I wish all these trees had been planted 10 years ago," says Brad Daseler, the city's urban forester. "But this is what we can do. We're getting started."

Daseler explains that the selected ZIP codes were chosen by examining multiple overlapping indicators, such as lack of shade, minimal tree canopy, extensive hard surfaces, and population density. "It's the combination of these factors that shows these are the areas most in need of shade, tree canopy, and greenspace," he says.

Planting in the desert comes with logistical challenges that don't exist in wetter climates. "This is different than places that get rainfall," Daseler says. "Every tree that we plant, we have to provide all the infrastructure for it to succeed. I can't just plant a tree anywhere."

To keep the urban forest healthy in the long term, the city is also prioritizing biodiversity. "We want to have trees from different families and different genes," Daseler says. "That helps build a healthy and resilient urban forests."

The program also requires balancing competing environmental concerns. "We recognize that water is a valuable resource, and we need to be good stewards of it," Daseler says. "But green space is tied in with public health and the well-being of people in the city. ... So we're balancing the water issue on one end, but also the need for green and shade."

Learn more and apply at lasvegasnevada.gov/trees.