SRP to Fund Planting of Trees in Areas Destroyed by Forest Fires in Arizona to Celebrate Cardinals TDs this Season

Congratulations to the Arizona Cardinals on an exciting year. Their 32 touchdowns this season means Salt River Project will plant 3,200 trees to restore Arizona forests destroyed by fire. SRP has pledged to fund the planting of 100 Ponderosa Pine trees for every Cardinals’ touchdown scored this season through the Trees for Change program.

Since 2010, more than 1.3 million acres of forests have been scorched by wildfires. Together with SRP customers and the National Forest Foundation, SRP has planted more than a half million trees, revitalized 2,560 acres of forest land, protected Phoenix’s watershed, revitalized habitat for native wildlife and reduced greenhouse gases. “Hundreds of thousands of Ponderosa Pine seedlings have been planted through this program, and we thank the Cardinals for their partnership to help us plant thousands more,” said Lori Singleton, director of Emerging Customer Programs for Solar, Sustainability and Telecom. “Their efforts will restore and protect the watershed that provides water for Valley residents.”

Forest land devastated by fire causes erosion and sedimentation that can end up in streams, rivers and reservoirs that supply the drinking water residents depend upon in the Phoenix metro area. During their lifetime, the trees also remove carbon dioxide from the air, store carbon in plant tissues and produce oxygen, thereby helping to decrease the impacts of global warming.

The program is funded by SRP customers who sign up for the Trees for Change program. Customers can pledge an additional $3 or more to their monthly bill – with 100 percent of the funds used to plant trees. So far, more than 2,300 customers have joined the program.

SRP is the third-largest public power utility in the nation, serving more than 1 million electric customers in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.  SRP is the largest provider of water to the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, delivering about 800,000 acre-feet annually to agricultural, urban and municipal water users.