Huntington Beach Tree Society



How many butterflies can you count on your visit to Huntington Central Park’s Urban Forest and Secret Garden, Gibb’s Butterfly Park or Overlook Park?  Milkweed plants, the Monarch’s exclusive plant food being cultivated and planted by HB Trees volunteers, are helping to reverse the decline of these beauties. 

Like kids in a candy store–HB Tree volunteers visited the Theodore Payne Foundation’s 22-acre canyon site in June, bringing back native plant and tree inspiration, seeds & natives for the Urban Forest, Shipley to Shore Trail, Secret Garden, Overlook Park & Gibbs Butterfly Park.

Volunteering is fun!  Zoey, a Sowers Middle School student, was in the Urban Forest in May to volunteer with her classmates. She liked the experience so much that she came back a week later. Zoey is shown helping Collin, a student at Humboldt State, and his best friend Andrew, a student at Oxnard College, to create a play area for kids out of these pine logs alongside the Shipley to Shore Trail. Interested in joining the fun?  Click here to learn more.

HB Tree Society’s Cheryl hosted Troop 8186-Los Alamitos/Rossmoor for a poppy planting project alongside the Shipley to Shore Trail.

Recording artist and philanthropist Laura Angelini with the Share Our Love organization came out to Gibbs Butterfly Park on Earth Day in April to plant milkweed, the favorite habitat of the Monarch Butterfly.

Recording artist and philanthropist Laura Angelini with the Share That Love organization came out to Gibbs Butterfly Park on Earth Day in April to plant milkweed, the favorite habitat of the Monarch Butterfly. To see her short video, click here.

Mater Dei Key Clubbers, planting water-wise, heat tolerant pops of color near the Shipley to Shore Trail this spring.

Find weekly updates on our Shipley to Shore Nature Trail Facebook page. We hope you “like” it!

Tons of massive boulders are being placed along the Shipley to Shore Trail thanks to our donors.

2020 Highlights

July 2020: Click here for 3 minutes of HB Tree Society difference-making highlights from the past year.  See why Huntington Beach Mayor Lyn Semeta presented the HB Tree Society with the first-ever “Making a Difference” Award. 

Bringing back habitat  – Last summer we welcomed back the dragon (art) and endangered gnatcatchers to the Urban Forest. Read more.

Love is in the air at Gibbs Butterfly Park! A proposal was caught on camera by HB Tree Society volunteer Leslie Gilson. Find more Gibbs gab by clicking here. 

Local Daisy Troop #7367 earned badges by cleaning up the Urban Forest. These hard-working young ladies also performed a heartwarming skit as a tribute to HB Tree Society President Jean Nagy. Their lines included: “Did you know it all started with a lady named Jean who thought there were not enough green spaces in Huntington Beach?  …  That was before we were born! …  She sounds like the kind of woman that lives up to the Girl Scout Law …  Yes! We can make the world a better place too!”

Support, Your Style

Are you and your dog enjoying outings through the Urban Forest & along the Shipley to Shore Nature Trail?  We welcome your support through funding and volunteering! To show our appreciation, Urban Forest best dog friend photos will be featured on hbtrees.org/dogsupporters.

If you have an Amazon account, your purchases can now beautify our community. For the same products and prices, you can donate 0.5 percent of the price of your purchases, which adds up quickly!  Simply visit your Amazon page and under  “Account & Lists,” select Amazon Smile and type “Huntington Beach Tree Society, Inc.” For future online shopping, type “SmileAmazon” in your browser to be directed to the site.

Here’s how your groceries can make our community greener:

Visit ralphs.com. Create or log into your Ralphs account. Click on “Community Rewards” & search for the non-profit HUNTINGTON BEACH TREE SOCIETY, then click Enroll.

It costs nothing to enroll or contribute, & funds forestation for generations. Let’s grow!

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Check out these videos!


Click on the flowers above and, when prompted, use this password to view a spectacular 3-minute video: springF0rest (The 0 is a zero and not o). Our thanks to creator Peggy Priver for allowing us to share her photography. Enjoy!

Saving Green, shot and produced by Matt Hanlon, is a short 2018 documentary about a group of volunteers who have fought for decades to preserve and maintain Huntington Beach’s parks. HB Tree Society is working with the city on a more sustainable model for managing city-owned green space.

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Huntington Beach Tree Society (HBTS) was incorporated in 1998 as a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) with the purposes of:

  • Planting and maintaining trees
  • Educating the public about the benefits and importance of trees and California friendly plants
  • Enlarging our green environment (another name for plants/trees in cities) for the enjoyment and health of all
  • Increasing habitat for urban wildlife

We are an equal opportunity, all-volunteer organization. Donations do not go to salaries. Our dollars go a long way! 

The Huntington Beach Tree Society (HBTS) was incorporated in 1998 as a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) with the purposes of:

  • Planting and maintaining trees
  • Educating the public about the benefits and importance of trees and California friendly plants
  • Enlarging our green environment (another name for plants/trees in cities) for the enjoyment and health of all
  • Increasing habitat for urban wildlife

Exceptional attributes: We are an equal opportunity, all-volunteer organization. Donations do not go to salaries.  We have a donated office and donated use of two trucks. Our dollars go a long way! To date we have purchased and planted more than 7,500 trees and CA-friendly plants growing in and around the Urban Forest, located in southwest Huntington Beach Central Park.

 

HB Central Park Feathered Tree Fans

Visit the Bird watching in the Urban Forest page for regular updates on species observed.

As habitat expands thanks to planting and nurturing by HB Tree Society volunteers, more birds, butterflies and other species are appearing!

American Kestrel in the Urban Forest (Photo by John O’Gara)

Anna’s Hummingbird (Photo by John O’Gara)

A Spotted Towhee, spotted in the Urban Forest

Hummingbird in the HB Central Park Secret Garden

A hummingbird pollinates Central Park wildflowers

Cooper’s Hawk on the Shipley to Shore Trail

 

Black Phoebe, dining on a dragonfly.

A Great Horned Owl on an evening visit to HB Central Park’s westside raptor foraging area.

A blue-gray Gnatcatcher, at home in the Urban Forest.

A white-tailed Kite, also seen in the Urban Forest

Birder Lena Hayashi has been tallying bird counts at Shipley Nature Center for years. As of fall 2020, she began doing counts in the Urban Forest as well!  Click here to learn more. 

 




Checks may be sent to:

HB Tree Society
PO Box 1269
Sunset Beach, CA  90742

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