Episode 44: Can One Tree Change the Future? | Casey Trees + The Nature Conservancy
In cities across America, trees are disappearing due to rapid development just as rising temperatures, extreme weather, and polluted waterways make them more essential than ever. In Washington, D.C., the tree canopy has fallen from roughly 50% in 1950 to 37% today—leaving communities more vulnerable to climate change.
How did this happen in our nation’s capital—and can planting trees really change the future of our planet?
Join the We’re Good Podcast on location at Langdon Park, an 11-acre green oasis in Northeast Washington, D.C., transformed through the work of Casey Trees. Host Lee Ann Necessary Brownlee sits down with Andrew Schichtel, Executive Director of Casey Trees, and Tim Purinton, former Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Maryland/DC Chapter, to discover how urban forests can become powerful climate solutions.
Trees do far more than beautify neighborhoods. They cool cities, absorb stormwater, improve air quality, support biodiversity and capture carbon. The science says, nature itself can absorb up to 30% of carbon emissions, making trees an important tool for confronting climate change.
But trees become an even greater force when people get involved. Casey Trees planted 7,000 trees across D.C. last year, supported by thousands of volunteers. At Langdon Park, four dedicated women help protect a neighborhood forest. Across the city, larger partnerships use trees and innovative stormwater solutions to protect the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers. And through programs in D.C. Title I schools, children experience urban forestry firsthand. Those lessons travel home to families and communities, planting something potentially even more powerful: a lifelong understanding that they can help shape the environment around them.
Climate change can feel impossibly large but the answer is hopeful: This story shows how even one tree matters—but lasting change happens when people work together.
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Casey Trees website
The Nature Conservancy website
