Pacific Palisades Plants Trees After Devastating Fire

Entire blocks of leafy parkway trees vanished overnight when the Palisades Fire swept through Pacific Palisades in 2025. Now a determined nonprofit and an army of volunteers are working to bring back the green canopy that once defined their California community.

The Palisades Forestry Committee (PFC) has shifted from tree protection to ambitious reforestation after the blaze. Treasurer Cindy Kirven says donations are funding two critical missions: planting new trees and watering the survivors that lost their water sources when homes around them burned.

The group has already planted 12 memorial trees in Temescal Canyon, one for each victim of the fire. Students from Seven Arrows school joined the effort through their "Treeams" (Trees + Dreams) movement, planting four Redbud trees at Aldersgate on the fire's anniversary.

But the real work is just beginning. Committee members are walking every street in neighborhoods like El Medio and Asilomar Bluffs, measuring setbacks around driveways, light poles and power lines to map exactly where new trees can go.

Upper Santa Monica Canyon will see its first plantings later this month once permits arrive. The neighborhood escaped the fire, and residents have already agreed on planting locations.

The Ripple Effect

The committee faces unique challenges in burned areas. They must wait for enough homes to be rebuilt so construction trucks won't destroy saplings, while also ensuring water infrastructure can support thirsty young trees.

Long-time resident Tracey Price, founder of American Growers Company, has been watering 305 surviving parkway and median trees weekly with a truck. He's urging the community to plant larger specimens in 36-inch boxes rather than smaller 15-gallon sizes that take decades to mature.

The Alphabet Streets neighborhood is pushing hard for immediate planting despite water and construction risks. The committee is working with Team Palisades block leaders to balance residents' eagerness with practical realities, planning now to plant smart later.

Every measurement, every mapped location, and every coordinated effort brings Pacific Palisades closer to reclaiming the tree-lined streets that made it home.