In the NEWS
Read all about the exciting work in the Ala Wai Watershed that Trees for Honolulu’s Future and others are involved with as a grant recipient of the University of Hawai’i Sea Grant program. (4/2/2025)
Put your green thumb to the test with this new Hawaiʻi card game – catch this Hawai’i Public Radio interview of TFHF’s President Daniel Dinell. (4/1/2025)
Enjoy this 5 minute video of City & County of Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi recognizing three of the outstanding artists as part of the We♥️Trees! Keiki Art Contest (3/20/2025)
TFHF President Daniel Dinell and Panel of Adviser Member Lea Hong, Hawai’i director for Trust for Public Lands, jointly penned this Community Voices piece: “Loving Trees, Loving Parks: An Rx For Our Urban Areas” in Civil Beat. (2/19/2025)
2025 off to a great start! Trees for Kaimukī initiative transforms a small remnant parcel on 12th Avenue into a people-friendly space with trees. (1/1/2025)
Listen to Ben Sullivan, Executive Director, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency in the One O‘ahu Podcast discuss trees at runtime 9:00 plus a callout to TFHF and our Climate Champion collaboration with the City. (10/9/2024)
Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle in this Star-Advertiser article as well as Civil Beat. Small pest, mighty problem. Sad. (10/8/2024)
“The bigger issue here is it’s just the rerun of the sad, continuing saga of invasive pests in Hawaii“, says TFHF President Daniel Dinell in a Civil Beat article about the Cconut Rhinoceros Beetle. (10/6/2024)
TFHF Director Roxanne Adams and Dr. Myles Richie, a former Member of the TFHF Board of Directors, call for more Exceptional Tree nominations in this MidWeek column. (8/14/2024)
Trees are part of transportation! TFHF Panel of Adviser Member Kathleen Rooney of Ulupono talks story with TFHF Panel of Adviser Member Jon Nouchi with the City & County of Honolulu about our transportation systems. Trees are an essential element in multi-modal transportation systems envisioned under the City’s Complete Streets focus. Jon calls for “Choice Nirvana”, a point in time where residents can choose from a variety of cleaner, more efficient choices suited for their transportation needs.
Midweek’s East O’ahu Community Voice captures the blessing of the replacement trees at Pālolo Triangle Park. (June 19, 2024)
HMSA’s Island Scene magazine celebrates “The Cooling Power of Trees“. (May 16, 2024)
Midweek’s East O’ahu Community Voice features the recently published Trees for Kaimukī lessons learned guide by the National Park Service. The guide is not a “cookbook” with a recipe to exactly follow, rather a place to start and organize community action. (May 1, 2024)
The Heat Is Rising in Honolulu. More Trees Will Help Cool It Off. Cover story in the April 2024 issue of Hawaii Business magazine includes quotes/insights by Heather McMillen on the TFHF Panel of Advisers along with TFHF Directors Roxanne Adams, Matt Gonser, and Daniel Dinell plus mention of partner organizations The Outdoor Circle and Smart Trees Pacific.
Did you know the University of Hawai’i-Mānoa is one of the few accredited arboretum campuses in the world? TFHF Director Roxanne Adams, now with the City, helped make it happen. Article from Ka Leo, the campus newspaper. (April 4, 2024)
What is tree equity? TFHF brought Dr. Christine Carmichael, who recently published the book “Racist Roots”, to our shores to learn more. Check out this Civil Beat column along with this Hawai’i Public Radio interview. Enjoy! (March 2024)
Watch! “Its more than just the trees” says TFHF Panel of Adviser member Heather McMillen in Hawai’i Outside episode featuring our urban forests (run time 2:35 to 20:30).
Listen to TFHF Director Matt Gonser of the City’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, along with Chip Fletcher and Clay Trauernicht, professors at UH Mānoa, on this timely episode of Hawai’i Public Radio’s The Conversation about taking action on climate change. As you will hear, trees play a major role, not least of which is wildfire management. (2/5/2024)
Trees speak in this Proof Positive MidWeek feature that highlights the many benefits of trees as well as ways to make a difference. (1/31/2024)
Findings of our Heat Islands Investigators initiative as well as how community members can take action. (1/4/2024)
TFHF Director Roxanne Adams, a true Tree Champion, recently highlighted community-led tree watering in City parks, an initiative TFHF has been supporting. (12/24/2023)
Learn all about the Exceptional Tree program in this Hawaii Public Radio interview with City & County of Honolulu Arborist Advisory Committee Chair Myles Ritchie. TFHF Directors Dan Dinell and Kevin Eckert serve on the Committee along with TFHF Panel of Advisers Member Heather McMillan. (11/28/2023)
Listen to TFHF Board Member Kevin Eckert on Hawaii’s Public Radio talking about his work helping to save Nan Madol in Pohnpei as well as how Smart Trees Pacific, an organization he co-founded, plans to use a large grant it received to spread arboriculture knowledge throughout the Pacific islands. (11/20/2023)
Heat; responsible for more weather-related deaths in the USA in an average year than hurricanes, tornadoes and floods combined. TFHF Panel of Adviser Member and University of Hawai’i professor Dr. Camilo Mora quoted extensively in this National Public Radio article on how heat kills. (7/23/2023)
University of Hawai’i professor Dr. Andy Kaufmann shares the results of the first ever comprehensive, long-term study of how to mitigate conflicts of tropical trees with underground infrastructure. TFHF was helpful in getting funding support for his work. (5/12/2023)
In the 96816! Get to know Lot Lau a stalwart volunteer with Trees for Kaimuki, one of TFHF’s signature programs. (5/2023)
TFHF’s heat island investigators from ‘Aiea Intermediate School experience hands on learning at UH Mānoa’s Campus Arboretum. (4/6/2023)
“We ❤ Trees!” Keiki Art grade level winners honored by the Honolulu City Council. (3/15/2023)
Collaboration is Key! “Students design, plant tree canopy for Kaimukī Library community” as part of TFHF’s Trees for Kaimukī initiative. (12/13/2022)
How are we doing? TFHF President Daniel Dinell discusses TFHF and the state of our urban tree canopy with host Dr. Grace Chen O’Neil on “Healthy Planet”, a ThinkTech Hawaii show. (10/28/2022)
Hawaii Public Radio notes U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) environmental justice grant awards in Hawai’i, one of which is a heat islands project in the Makalapa/Aiea area of O’ahu led by TFHF. (8/18/2022)
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi appoints members of the City & County of Honolulu’s Arborist Advisory Committee that includes TFHF President Daniel Dinell, Board Member Kevin Eckert, and Panel of Adviser Member Heather McMillen. (4/19/2022)
Heat. Heat. Heat. All about Heat Islands (and trees of course!) in this ThinkTech Hawaii Code Green show with host Howard Wigg and TFHF President Dan Dinell. (1/31/2022)
“Come on, man! When are we going to get serious about this problem?” asks, or perhaps more accurately, pleads, TFHF Panel of Adviser member Camilo Mora in this Wired Magazine piece on how climate change is turning cities into ovens. (1/7/2022)
Dan Dinell, TFHF President, quoted in this commentary piece from Civil Beat that highlights positive tree happenings. Is the movement to encourage urban trees gathering momentum? We hope so; yet so much more needs to be done. (1/5/2022)
“We don’t want a city with trees, we want a city in the forest”, says TFHF Panel of Adviser Member Heather McMillen in Hawaiian Airlines’ Hana Hou Magazine. No need to fly to read it, although if you do, enjoy the flight and the article, which also includes quotes from Desiree Page, another TFHF Panel of Adviser Member. (Jan/Feb 2022)
Terrific Pacific Business News interview of TFHF Panel of Adviser member Lea Hong. She makes a strong point about how “the Covid pandemic revealed how important our parks, natural areas and outdoor places are for our physical and mental well-being”. Trees help do exactly this in our parks. (12/3/2021)
Keiki and the “We
Trees!” take center stage in this Hawaii News Now story. (11/6/2021)
Catch the spirit of adopting a tree in this KITV live remote in celebration of Hawai’i’s Arbor Day. (11/6/2021)
Listen in on TFHF President Dan Dinell with KTUH’s Professor Ted whose eclectic and thoughtful live radio interview on TFHF, Arbor Day Hawai’i, and more, reveals that a “papaya tree” is not a tree. (10/20/2021)
KITV news interviews Board Certified Master Arborist and TFHF Board Member Kevin Eckert on How Common is Tree Failure in Hawaii. (9/20/2021)
Want to plant a tree, but don’t know which one is right for your yard and your personal preferences? This television news story features a super useful website designed to help you out. (4/22/2021)
Hana Hou! One of the few university campuses in the world that the campus itself is an arboretum. Shout out to our friends at UH Mānoa and Trees for Honolulu’s Future Director Roxanne Adams and her team. (4/13/2021)
Thoughtful opinion piece on Moving Hawaii Beyond the Pandemic (of course trees are mentioned!) by Karl Kim, Ph.D., professor of urban and regional planning and executive director of the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center at the University of Hawaii. (3/26/2021)
Recapturing the public realm for people! Hawaii News Now segment (2/19/2021) on a parklet in Kaimuki where you can even talk to the trees and they’ll respond.
“Disappearing Trees” (Honolulu Magazine, February 2021) highlights the good work and urgency of taking action for urban trees.
“Honolulu’s Need For More Trees Is Now” (Civil Beat, 10/9/2020) written by Tom Dinell, TFHF founder and president emeritus.
TFHF Director Dr. Lisa Marten quoted in this Civil Beat feature “What Has The Pandemic Taught Us About Climate Change?” (9/7/2020)
Excellent Insight “Take Care of Nature, Which Cares for Us” in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (6/10/2020) by Ulalia Woodside of The Nature Conservancy in Hawai’i and TFHF Panel of Adviser Member. We are indeed interconnected and this period of pause gives us additional perspective. Ho’ola ‘aina, ho’oulu lahui: when we care for nature, nature will care for us.
In “improve walk and bike ways, plus add trees”, Honolulu Star-Advertiser (6/9/2020), Anthony Chang, active with TFHF partner Hawai’i Bicycling League, points to how trees add to the overall livability in support of healthier, active lifestyles.
100 years plus and counting. Check out this Hawai’i Magazine (6/5/2020) feature on TFHF partner, The Outdoor Circle.
TFHF partner, The Outdoor Circle, featured prominently in the national publication Arbor Day (May/June 2020 issue), for its work helping East Hawaii Island recover from natural calamity.
Prominent in investigating the removal of trees at Magic Island is TFHF Director Winston Welch. Get the latest in this Star-Advertiser article (4/30/2020).
TFHF panel of adviser member Jeff Mikulina coauthored this Star-Advertiser OpEd (4/22/2020) noting the parallels in the necessary response to coronavirus with climate change that appeared, suitably so, on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.
“Treehoo!” is the cheer around the University of Hawai’i Mānoa campus upon once again being recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus USA. Congratulations to TFHF Vice President Roxanne Adams, UH Mānoa director of buildings and grounds, and her hard-working crew.
TFHF panel of advisers members Makena Coffman and Josh Stanbro quoted in this timely Civil Beat piece (2/20/2020) on mapping Honolulu and identifying where its hottest.
Facebook post (1/21/2020) from Oahu Trees featuring our President Daniel Dinell and a bit of his, and our, story. (You may need to scroll down to find depending on your settings.)
This Commonweal article, Laudato si’ in an Old-Growth Forest (12/30/2019), outlines how no individual plant or animal, and indeed no species, exists in isolation. It identifies three connected lessons that an old-growth forest gives us humans: 1) creation is profoundly interrelated; 2) interrelatedness is not simply a truth about ecology that we observe; and 3) attentiveness can bring the limits of our knowledge into our moral imagination.
Founding President Emeritus Tom Dinell penned a letter to the editor entitled “Artificial turf reminds us of imperative for trees” (12/20/2019)
Learn more about us and trees in this feature by The Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations. (11/25/2019)
Do trees talk? Interesting article on a book that says “YES”. A teaser: “Every tree, therefore, is valuable to the community and worth keeping around for as long as possible. And that is why even sick individuals are supported and nourished until they recover. Next time, perhaps it will be the other way round, and the supporting tree might be the one in need of assistance. […] A tree can be only as strong as the forest that surrounds it.”
Honolulu isn’t unique. Check out how Los Angeles is struggling (and addressing) its lack of shade, particularly the unevenness of urban tree canopy. (12/1/2019)
Fascinating summary of a study on the heat island effect that quantifying the percent canopy coverage needed to make a difference from the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators website. This is an indication that the work Trees for Honolulu’s Future, our partners, and countless other groups, around the nation, is capturing the attention of policymakers. (10/19/2019)
This Civil Beat piece (10/17/2019) quotes by TFHF Panel of Adviser Member Camilo Mora and Director Matt Gonser. Its a good reminder that getting to a goal is usually never a straight line or easy.
More Trees Need to Combat Greenhouse Gases (9/29/2019) column makes the case for trees and features Panel of Adviser Dr. Camilo Mora and his work/goals for this year, next year, and the future.
Is this the New Normal? (9/23/2019) Civil Beat article on climate change in Hawaii features TFHF Board Member Matt Gonser and Panel of Adviser Camilo Mora.
Successful Kickoff of Trees for Kaimuki (7/27/2019) as reported by KHON-TV.
HOT? Record temperatures across Hawaii and the USA. Excellent overview article on how urban trees aren’t the only answer, but a component of a holistic way to address the issue. (7/22/2019)
Gold Standard. TFHF mentioned in this heartfelt Honolulu Magazine (July 2019) column on trees.
Speak for the trees! Founding President Emeritus Tom Dinell pens a unique approach to underscoring the value of trees in this Civil Beat piece. (6/12/2019)
Innovation in Action! City uses technology to help trees grow and prosper. We have a representative from the City & County of Honolulu on our Board — Matt Gonser — as well as numerous City officials on our Panel of Advisers. (6/10/2019)
Sobering. Josh Sanbro, member of Trees for Honolulu’s Future Panel of Advisers, and head of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, is quoted in this timely piece (5/19/2019) on the changing level of carbon in our atmosphere.
“Urban Honolulu has lost 76,000 trees in the last four years, aerial survey finds” (April 15, 2019) Video coverage of Trees for Kaimuki initiative working to make change and reverse this disturbing trend.
“Follow Civil Beat’s Lead on Planting Trees” (March 19, 2019) TFHF President Daniel Dinell on Civil Beat staff taking a lead on planting trees and introducing a new initiative, Trees for Kaimuki.
UH Mānoa trees nationally recognized 10th straight year (February 26, 2019) Features Board Member, Roxanne Adams and the great work of her team!
Initiative focuses on more trees in Oahu’s concrete jungle (November 4, 2018) Features several TFHF Board Members!
“Mayor Caldwell wants to plant 100,000 tress in urban Honolulu by 2025” (March 9, 2018) Video coverage on the March 9, 2018 Trees for Honolulu’s Future conference
Mayor Caldwell Announces Goal of 35% Urban Canopy by 2035 (March 2, 2018) Video of the Mayor’s announcement accompanied by a tree planting.