It takes teamwork to plant 1,250 shade trees. Photos contributed by Columbia Green
Columbia Green was organized as a nonprofit in 1984. The initial focus of the group was beautification of the community and making Columbia a more desirable place to live. As time passed, Columbia Green focused on raising money to give away as grants and for environmental education and planting trees.
The people associated with this group are on a mission to create a greener, healthier, and more beautiful environment for all who live and work in greater Columbia. Focusing on urban forestry addresses urban heat and the risks to the health and wellbeing of humans, wildlife, and the environment associated with rising levels of heat.
Not many people are aware of Columbia Green or know what it does. I had no idea when I saw its name on the agenda for the first Beat the Heat event. The folks with Columbia Green understand how important tree cover is for a city. They know what trees do, and they know how quickly our planet is losing trees. But they don’t have a highly paid public relations consultant to share that message.
“Let’s plant a tree.”
When you see a storm like Helene reduce the tree population quickly and efficiently and realize how long it takes for a replacement tree to grow you understand how important this idea is. Columbia Green knows the situation is dire and has plans to fix things. But the organization can’t accomplish anything without funding.
A partnership with the City of Columbia has proven to be beneficial for both organizations. The current city administration is focused on improving the environment and understands a greener city is more desirable to residents.
In July of 2024, a press conference was held announcing Beat the Heat, Plant a Tree, an effort to improve quality of life by increasing the number of trees in the Midlands. The event was held at Benedict College and was based on a Columbia Heat Map study completed in 2022 by Professor Kirsten Dow and doctoral student Grant Farmer.
Dow and Farmer, along with other volunteers, created a temperature map of the city at the behest of Columbia’s Tree and Appearance Commission. The study verified what most people instinctively know, especially people living in the South in summer—it gets hotter in places where there is little or no shade.
The initial Beat the Heat event was extremely successful. During the 2024-2025 planting season, Columbia Green and the City of Columbia distributed almost 1,250 free shade trees to property owners in greater Columbia, along with advice for planting and maintaining a home’s future shade space. Both organizations began working to communicate that idea to corporations, small businesses, volunteer organizations, and conservation groups.
Columbia Green president Jennifer Young likes the partnership. “We are an environmental organization. Columbia is very much concerned about the environment,” she says. A retired literacy educator, Young ran an educational consulting company for many years. “I learned pretty much everything I know about gardening from my mom, and I have gardened all my life,” Young added.
Young got involved in Columbia Green when asked to be on its Festival of Gardens tour of gardens in 2023 in Shandon. The festival is Columbia Green’s annual fundraiser for its Community Grants program.
The president fully understands how important the city is in getting Columbia Green to where it needs to be and also in getting a commitment from other local entities.
“When Mayor Daniel J. Rickenmann spoke recently at the America’s All In Conference, he said partnering with Columbia Green on Beat the Heat was one of his proudest accomplishments,”said Young.
She thinks Columbia also understands that corporations need to understand their responsibility to the environment. “He likes to say that orange is the new green,” she added.
South Carolina has always been a state that treasures the natural spaces within its boundaries. Farmers are environmentalists. So are hunters, people who fish, and folks who just like to disappear into tranquil spaces. We used to call it conservation, and it’s more important than ever. Getting all these groups to understand they’re all in the same boat is key.
April Lucas spent almost 40 years in economic development in the Palmetto State. She’s seen small towns reduced to poverty by big box stores and other revenue losses. She’s seen communities let that happen and also watched other towns “do something about it.” Landscaping was almost always a key element. Cities and towns have an opportunity to capitalize on the demise of the big box stores and work from home trends by making themselves “achingly quaint.” You can’t do that without a healthy tree canopy.
She’s a self-described “country girl,” born and raised in Turkey Creek, South Carolina. “I grew up understanding the value of shade trees. We didn’t have air conditioning; so finding a shady spot during the summer was critical. Shade was an essential part of life,” Lucas says.
She serves as chair of the Beat the Heat partnership for Columbia Green. Her love of the environment comes from her grandmother.
On August 1, Columbia Green, in partnership with the City of Columbia, announced its second Beat the Heat initiative, and fourth educational event August 30, at 10 a.m., to be held at Earlewood Park, on 1113 Recreation Drive.
This year’s Beat the Heat initiative aims to plant thousands of new shade trees on private property throughout Columbia to address rising urban heat and to help to restore the urban canopy, which suffered a 22 percent decrease over the past 20 years, primarily due to development on private property.
Columbia Green is working hard to fight this battle along with countless other environmental volunteers around the country. Other communities have a Columbia Green equivalent. Some are thriving, others not so much. So pass the word. Help bring trees back to our world. We need them badly.
During the August 30 event, participants will receive information about how to apply to receive up to three free trees and will learn how to select, site, plant, and care for their trees to ensure their survival. The event is free of charge and will include light refreshments.
Attendees are required to RSVP by filling out a short form at columbiagreen.org/beattheheat, to ensure there is adequate space and refreshments for all who will attend. Columbia Green encourages all interested property owners to attend, including the owners of rental and commercial properties.
For more information, visit columbiagreen.org.
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