We have watched for the last hundred years as patches of the world’s oldest forests have disappeared into clear-cuts and managed forests.  Arboretum Detroit is part of reversing this trend by reforesting the urban landscape. Arb Detroit is populating the ready frames of Detroit’s abandoned urban blocks with stands of trees.  Each parcel of trees demonstrates the contours and characteristics of a specific species. This patchwork of forest laid over the history of city blocks grows a quilt of protected forest that will safely mature in perpetuity for all Detroiters.  As a land trust this arboretum is a monument that Detroit shares with the world - a gift that can be measured in the enjoyment and peace that we experience while visiting, but also in the education and inspiration offered to every visitor for a hundred or two years.  It is a gift measured in the cubic tons of pollution and carbon scrubbed from our air. It is a gift measured in the enhanced quality of life for all Detroiters.

Arboretum Detroit reveals itself to passers-by and demands attention with hills and mounds that demonstrate each lot is more than just a flat neglected parcel.  Even before the trees are obvious it will be clear that this spot is cared for; this is a place. It is in Michigan’s Fall when the arboretum makes itself most clear- the arcs, circles, rings and groves burst variously into red, yellow, orange, pink, browns, and greens. This quilt brings us closer to our seasons, and reminds us one-hundred-fold what a single Sugar Maple can about life in Michigan.  By interacting with trees we become more connected and conscious of our environment. A primary goal of Arboretum Detroit is this environmental consciousness; the goal is to be moved to think about our connections to the environment, its effects on us and our effects on it. The future of our planet demands that people care about forest halfway around the world. In order for a person to care about a forest they must first care about a tree.  Arboretum Detroit will create places for Detroiters to realize their love of trees. This may mean actively planting as an Arb volunteer or just finding one’s favorite tree and sitting with it.