Durango marks Arbor Month with tree planting, free giveaways along Animas River Trail

Free trees, a guided nature walk and a live planting demo turned the lawn at the Durango Community Recreation Center into the center of Arbor Month on Friday afternoon, with the city putting its forest work on full display along the Animas River Trail.

The April 17 gathering ran from 1 to 4 p.m. and included a tree-planting event in the 2026 Arbor Day Forest, plus a free tree giveaway while supplies lasted. By tying the hands-on work to the Animas River Trail, one of Durango’s most-used recreation corridors, the city connected shade trees, parkland and river corridor stewardship to the places residents already use every day.

The guided walk started at the recreation center and went to 29th Street Park, where town arborist Ben Rieck led participants through the city’s urban forest. That made the afternoon feel more like an outdoor classroom than a ceremonial stop, with the walk and planting demo showing how the city chooses species, where trees fit into public spaces and how the canopy is built out block by block.

The celebration was part of a larger Arbor Month run that also included a story time at the Durango Public Library on April 15 and an arborist panel talk at the recreation center on April 16. The Durango City Council had proclaimed April 13-19 as Arbor Week, framing the programming as a citywide nod to trees, urban forestry and environmental stewardship rather than a single-day event.

Durango’s long-running Tree City USA status gave the day added weight. City materials described Durango as a Tree City USA community for 46 years, and the Parks and Recreation Forestry Division maintains more than 12,000 trees of more than 20 different varieties within city limits. City records also note the city has earned the Growth Award for 32 of those years. The annual celebration has become a recurring spring marker as well, with past Arbor Day events including a 2024 gathering at Santa Rita Park that paired tree planting with a local forester Q&A.