About Us

North East Trees is a community based, grassroots, environmental non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. We were the first design build non-profit organization in Los Angeles. North East Trees' staff includes licensed professional arborists, landscape architects, landscape designers, and environmental scientists that ensure efficient and effective end-to end project management.

The home of North East Trees at the beautiful River Center and Gardens

North East Trees was founded in 1989 by Mr. Scott Wilson, a retired LAUSD high school teacher and licensed Landscape Architect. Mr. Wilson's pledge to plant 5 trees a day for the rest of his life, and his parallel commitment to helping At-Risk youth find meaningful employment in the green industry, have resulted in a non-profit organization delivering effective training and environmental restoration programs to under served communities in the greater Los Angeles Area.

Our Mission is "To restore nature's services in resource challenged communities, through a collaborative resource development, implementation, and stewardship process."

We design and build parks which provide passive recreation opportunities and serve as gateways to bike paths, pedestrian and equestrian trails.

Guardians of the River Gate

Many of our projects are located along the Los Angeles River and local waterways.

Glendale Narrows Riverwalk

We also train at-risk youth from under-served neighborhoods. By focusing the training on strengthening their professsional skills and understanding of urban forestry, arboriculture, landscape design and maintenance, we provide them with usable skills and a path that enables them to pursue employment opportunities in the Green Industry.

Youth Environmental Stewardship Training

In the 22 years we have been around, North East Trees has

Planted over 50,000 trees
Designed and built over 35 parks, mini-parks, trails, street and access gateway improvements
Implemented innumerable landscape improvement projects including habitat restoration along the Los Angeles River and throughout Los Angeles County
Engaged, trained, and employed hundreds of local youth in environmental stewardship

Five Core Programs implement our mission

1. Urban Forestry Program

2. Parks Design and Build Program

3. Watershed Rehabilitation Program

4. Youth Environmental Stewardship (YES) Program

5. Community Stewardship Program

The projects throughout our 22 years of existence have been funded through local, state, and federal government agencies, foundations, corporations, private entities, and individuals. Our funding partners include: California State Natural Resources Agency, Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC), Mountains and Recreation Conservation Authority (MRCA), Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC), Los Angeles County Open Space District, City of Los Angeles, City of Glendale, City of Cudahy, California Dept. of Transportation, California State Water Board, U.S. Dept. of Education, U.S. Dept. of Justice, The Annenberg Foundation, S. Mark Taper Foundation, Home Depot Foundation, among others.

Over the years, NET has worked with degraded areas and derelict parcels of land and successfully rehabilitated, enhanced, revegetated, and beautified them for the enjoyment of community members. Additionally, these areas have been transformed from blighted and unsafe, to inviting and healthful areas providing opportunities for enhancing our environment by cleaning air quality, and allowing stormwater infiltration, reducing carbon emissions, reducing heat island effects, and creating a healthier population.

Here are some pictures that exemplify this: