Pipelines, Utilities and Yes, Trees in the Houston Ship Channel Area

Every fall and spring tree planting movements are happening all over the greater Houston Area with a focus on “increasing shade,  creating healthier air, building stronger neighborhoods, and making an overall greener Houston”.  –Trees for Houston

You may think these plantings are happening just in parks and residential areas, but in 2019 Houston Wilderness pioneered the Houston Ship Channel Trees Program to get trees planted for a positive impact along the industrial corridor of the shipping channel. 

The Port of Houston landscape is distributed over a 25-mile long chain of land areas that are utilized for storage and active port operations, and adjacent ports have a similar industrial corridor coverage area. However, significant green spaces still exist among this gray infrastructure and became the setting for the first of over 100k trees planted to date through this program. 

Houston Wilderness staff researched, calculated and ranked the ecosystem services values associated with native tree species in our region. Based on these rankings, the top 17 “Super Tree” species are targeted for large-scale plantings along the riparian corridor. These native Super Tree species were ranked in priority based on their respective levels of air pollution absorption (GHGs), water absorption and carbon sequestration. Large-scale, native ‘Super Tree’ plantings provide a multitude of ecosystem services - increased air & water quality, erosion control, phytoremediation and habitat enhancement. So every tree that is planted is working to bring these benefits to all the residents, workers, and visitors of the Ship Channel from the moment the tree establishes its roots!

We have partnered with companies such as SESCO, Air Products, and Kinder Morgan as land hosts for our plantings but our volunteer partners also include Shell, Chevron, and even the Crown Hill Cemetery on Richey Street! We’ve expanded in the third and fourth year of the program to include areas whose tributaries also lead out into Galveston Bay, including Chambers County parks, Dickinson buy-out properties, and Port Freeport buy-outs bringing the chance to “increase shade, create healthier air, and build stronger neighborhoods” into the grey-infrastructure so many of us depend on.

The Houston Ship Channel and Adjacent Ports area -yes- we’ve changed the name to include the areas we’ve expanded into - would love to plant trees and make your industrial-work space just a little greener! Contact Houston Wilderness at (281) 607-1517 to evaluate your under-utilized green space, stop unnecessary mowing, and instead allow trees to change the landscape you view daily while bringing all of their benefits for your company, workers, and the neighborhood and surrounding areas!

Houston Ship Channel & Adjacent Ports TREES Program. Get involved. Submit your company or land to be accessed for a tree planting. Can't plant trees? Houston Wilderness also evaluates land for installation of bioswales; the use of native grasses in area of water retention.

Ana Tapia