Wisconsin has planted its 50 millionth tree, halfway to 100 million by 2030
The DNR says partners, from private landowners to people planting on their own, helped reach the milestone. New trees also went in at Havenwoods, the state's only urban state forest, in Milwaukee.
Read the original
The reporting lives at WPR (Wisconsin Public Radio). Our summary is checked against it, and we link it on every story.
Wisconsin has planted its 50 millionth tree under a pledge Gov. Tony Evers signed in 2021, Wisconsin Public Radio reported. The first state goal was 75 million trees by 2030, along with conserving forestland. Three years later the planting target rose to 100 million. The new count is the halfway mark on that larger number.
Program coordinator Bobbie Webster said the work depends on partners who get trees in the ground and teach people how to care for them. Havenwoods State Forest, a short drive from downtown Milwaukee and the only urban state forest in Wisconsin, is one of the places that received more trees. Urban forestry staff said the count matters less than planting trees where they can live for decades.
More good news
Other stories in the same neighborhood of kindness.
ScienceStanford scientists brought bleached corals back to full health in seven weeks
In lab tanks at Hopkins Marine Station, bleached coral fragments that briefly touched healthy clones took in algae within three days and fully recovered in seven weeks. Fragments without that contact died.
Verified · Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
ScienceChinook salmon returned to 88% of their old Klamath habitat after the dams came down
After four Klamath River dams were removed in 2024, sonar counts recorded 7,742 Chinook passing the former dam sites that fall and more than 13,000 in 2025. The fish spread through 214 miles blocked for about a century.
Verified · Mongabay
AnimalsA Wisconsin veteran meets service dog Gilby after a two-year fundraiser
The La Crosse County American Legion and local groups paid to train Gilby for veteran Nicole Rogich. The dog is named for Air Force veteran James Gilbertson.
Verified · WKBT News 8000