Heartland Tree Alliance
Stronger communities through healthy trees
program mission
The mission of Heartland Tree Alliance is to engage people of the Greater Kansas City region to take action and advocate for a healthy community forest.
Heartland Tree Alliance educates people about all the critically important benefits created by urban trees, why these trees need extra care, and the proper ways to give them that care. We also organize planting events, pruning events and tree care workdays so people can get involved. Since 2005, HTA volunteers have donated over 13,000 hours of time! The efforts put forth from these volunteers has enabled HTA to plant 17,874 trees, prune 3,264, and maintain an additional 2,527 trees by mulching or removing tree stakes.
heartland tree alliance projects
Learn more about how you can get involved with Heartland Tree Alliance.
Contribute to ourTREE FUND
Shape the future of our region's urban tree canopy by making a donation to the Heartland Tree Alliance's Tree Fund.
Every dollar donated supports efforts across the metropolitan region.
The Heartland Tree Alliance's Tree Fund supports tree planting events and education programs across the Kansas City region.
learn moreheartland tree alliance FY 20-21 accomplishments
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1,081
volunteer hours worked
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1,645
trees planted
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27
citizens trained as TreeKeepers & OrchardKeepers
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175
youth educated about trees
VOLUNTEER with HTA
Join us in creating a sustainable community.
Calling all tree lovers! Volunteer with Bridging The Gap’s Heartland Tree Alliance (HTA) program! At our workdays, we explain why it’s important to maintain and increase our urban tree canopy, then we split into small groups to prune, plant or mulch small trees. We work throughout the metropolitan area, on both sides of the state line.
1,800 people volunteer with BTG each year. Be part of the movement!
find volunteer opportunitiesupcoming HTA events
HTA SPEAKERS
Heartland Tree Alliance can provide a speaker for your next meeting! Our presentations are designed for neighborhood associations, businesses, and other groups in the Kansas City region.
request a speaker
HTA Steering Committee
Kim Bomberger
NC and NE District Community Forester
Kansas Forest Service
Dustin Branick
Horticulture and Forestry Supervisor
City of Leawood Kansas
Corey Creed
Horticulture Specialist
University of Missouri Extension
Chuck Conner
Community Forester
Missouri Department of Conservation
Leslie Dick
Belton Tree Board Member/Volunteer
Belton Missouri
Jared Lind
Park Maintenance Crew Leader
City of Lenexa Kansas
Lynn Loughary
Horticulture Extension Agent
Kansas State Extension Services
Janese Reed
Small Business Owner
Kansas City Missouri
Wendy Sangster
Community Forester
Missouri Department of Conservation
Geoff Vossen
Transmission and Distribution Vegetation Manager
Kansas City Power & Light
Robert Whitman
Associate Vice President, Landscape Architect
Gould Evans Architects
Heartland Tree Alliance Staff
- Sarah Crowder
Program Manager, ISA Certified Arborist, Municipal Specialist SO-5327AM
- Joe Wheelock
Program Coordinator
hta sponsors + partners
What's happening now
Reflections on summer’s heat
Climate scientists predict an increase in the number of extreme heat days for the KC metro area in the coming years, and this summer seemed to align with that forecast. Two of our programs, Heartland Tree Alliance and the KCMO Recycling Drop-off Centers, take an informal measure of its impact on their work over this past … Continued
Saving Trees During Construction
Land is constantly undergoing development throughout the Kansas City area. Apartments are built on formerly “vacant” lots, farmland is turned into suburbia, ranch-style homes turn into mansions, garages are added, driveways are repaved, irrigation is installed and patios double in size. Whatever the reason for construction, let’s observe what is on our land first to … Continued
Mimosa Webworm in Kansas City
Have you noticed trees with brown leaves and what looks like spider webbing all over them? The culprit is most likely the mimosa webworm (Homadaula anisocentra)! These caterpillars are occasional pests of the mimosa tree and several varieties of honey locust. Life Cycle: This pest produces two overlapping generations per year. The first generation typically … Continued
Japanese Beetles in Kansas City
It’s that time of year again – adult Japanese beetles (Papillia japonica) have emerged! In short time, you’ll likely notice significant feeding damage from these pesky beetles. We field a lot of concerns about the Japanese beetle each year, but oftentimes they are not detrimental to plants. Your plants will likely survive damage Japanese beetles … Continued
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