Students Establish Campus Nurseries to Replant Trees in Fire-Damaged Areas

Students from schools impacted by the 2025 fires are operating campus nurseries to grow native trees for replanting in burned areas of Southern California. The TREEAMS program, which stands for trees and dreams, began after the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed several campuses including Seven Arrows Elementary and Saint Mark's.

Students repot trees such as western redbud, toyon, coast live oak, and California sycamore at sites including the Aldersgate Retreat Center and EF Academy.

The project was co-developed by the late conservationist Jane Goodall and Margarita Pagliai, founder of Seven Arrows and Little Dolphins Preschool. Goodall was scheduled to plant the first tree at an October kickoff event but died shortly before the gathering; participants planted the tree in her memory instead.

Initial plans called for immediate planting of acquired trees. Organizers later shifted to on-campus nurseries after finding that some sites had contaminated soil or were still under reconstruction.

The revised approach keeps the 5,000-tree goal and timeline unchanged while providing students one to two years of environmental science experience. UCLA and the nonprofit EcoRise created a supporting curriculum. "Students in those places have lived through something very difficult," Pagliai said at a recent planting event.

" Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation, said the nurseries ensure trees are available when planting sites are ready and that proper care increases long-term survival rates. The foundation is assisting reforestation efforts in Altadena and parts of the Angeles National Forest.

Sixth-grader Jackson Von noted that planting native species can increase community resistance to future fires similar to those in 2025.