Clark County to give away more trees to reduce heat island effect

LA SVEGAS (KLAS) — Clark County launched its Community Canopy Project last week, in an effort to reduce the brutal heat in the Las Vegas valley by giving away free trees to homeowners, providing much-needed shade and oxygen.

It didn’t take long for homeowners to snag supplies. It only took 72 hours before Clark County ran out of its first batch of trees, giving away 2,200 so far showcasing our community’s need.

If you missed the first batch, don’t worry you can still get a free tree in the next few months. The county cites this as an ongoing project which will minimize the heat island effect as urban areas like Las Vegas remain much hotter due to infrastructure and our record-breaking temperatures this past summer have made it much worse.

Residents living in areas with high heat vulnerability like the east side and downtown are eligible for two trees.

Ashley Avila lives near Justice Myron Community Park and took her daughter to the splash pad to cool down and applauded the county’s initiative.

“I think that’s actually really good because it’s really hot out here, nowadays you need shade where it’s refreshing because of how hot it gets out here,” Avila said. “I feel like every year, it keeps getting hotter and hotter.”

Patricia Steffen said this is a great way to add more trees in other parts of town.

“Drive down Boulder Highway, there’s not one tree. It’s brutal, absolutely brutal on Boulder Highway, there’s no trees,” Steffen added.

Trees under this program are also desert-friendly, conserving water.

With an overwhelmingly positive response from the community, Clark County will be able to hit its goal of planting 4,500 hundred trees across the valley next year.

The next tree giveaway event won’t be until spring, March 2025. It’s first come, first serve so you’ll have to sign up fast when it opens. It’s free for all Clark County residents. Available trees include the Shumard oak, Chaste tree, Chinese Pistache, and others.

Homeowners with zip codes in high heat vulnerability are prioritized and can get up to 2 free trees, those zip codes are 89030, 89101, 89102, 89103, 89104, 89106, 89014, 89110, 89121, 89119, 89154, 89169.

You can sign up under this link to be notified when the next time this project has available trees.

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