See where trees are being planted in NY with new statewide Tree Tracker tool
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the tracker Wednesday as a way to monitor the goal set in her 2024 State of the State address of planting 25 million trees statewide by 2033.
"New York is taking decisive action to protect our environment and strengthen communities' ability to withstand severe weather," Hochul said. "Our progress toward the 25 Million Tree goal is a testament to the power of community-driven action, and the new Tree Tracker will make it easier for New Yorkers to track our progress, share updates and contribute to a healthier environment for the future."
Here's what to know.
Created by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Office of Information Technology Services, the Tree Tracker and resulting webpage includes an interactive map of tree planting projects statewide, which keeps track of the number of trees planted and includes breakdowns by region, county and municipality.
State agencies, organizations, private entities and individuals can report the location and number of trees planted into the tool, according to Hochul, and you can also include information such as when the tree was planted, the species of the planted tree and the size of the tree.
You can access the tracker's interactive map element by visiting dec.ny.gov/nature/forests-trees/climate-change/25-million-trees.
If you'd like to report a tree you've planted, visit on.ny.gov/treetracker and fill out the survey questions.
The tracker includes all trees planted in New York since January 2024. Statewide, over 100,000 trees have been planted as of Feb. 6, 2025. Here's how this breaks down by region:
Southern Tier: 82,400 trees planted
Finger Lakes: 10,300 trees planted
Mohawk Valley: 5,800 trees planted
Western New York: 3,500 trees planted
North Country: 2,900 trees planted
Hudson Valley: 1,800 trees planted
Capital Region: 1,500 trees planted
Central New York: 1,200 trees planted
Long Island: 52 trees planted
New York City: 16 trees planted
Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Livingston and Lewis counties have planted the most trees to date, according to the tracker, with over 90,000 trees planted among them. The towns of Smithville, Franklin, Tompkins, Burlington and York are the localities with the most trees planted in the state, which totals over 81,000 trees.
Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network's New York Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: See where trees are being planted in NY with new Tree Tracker tool
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