FAQS

The inspiration to start Let's Plant Trees stemmed from events like the spread of spruce budworm, regional wildfires, and the urgent matter of climate change. Recognizing our own desire for immediate action and seeing that others wanted to take action as well, we initiated our nonprofit to coordinate efforts and combat these issues directly, by making it easy for community members to plant more trees.

Cook County is our home base, but we've expanded into the broader Arrowhead region and North Central Minnesota. Our species list is tailored to trees that grow well in these areas, and our long-term vision is to expand across all of Minnesota before expanding into other states.

Let's Plant Trees was founded by Carrie and Mike Nicklow, residents of Lutsen Minnesota. Both Mike and Carrie have decades of business experience and a passion for the outdoors. Carrie has an environmental science degree, and both Mike and Carrie are Master Woodland Stewards. Let's Plant Trees is also supported by volunteers with backgrounds in forestry and related fields, and a shared passion for environmental conservation.

People have requested a wide range of seedlings quantities from us! While some folks only want to plant a few trees at a time, others have much more ambitious tree planting goals. In order to ensure that we have seedlings for everyone who wants them, we do limit quantities on pre-orders.

Our species list changes each year based on supply and demand. We currently focus on plug seedlings, which are easier to handle at our scale, though many species are only available as bare-root. As we grow, we'll be able to place special nursery orders for a wider variety of species. Some species will also be offered in alternating years to promote diversity while keeping our distribution events manageable and efficient.

Tree seedlings will arrive in May, and our distribution events are on weekends from mid May to early June. We will provide specific dates, times, and locations for our pickup events in late winter before each spring season.

No, we are not equipped to ship tree seedlings anywhere. Our model is based on community engagement, and community distribution events. Our goal is to make the dates and locations as convenient as possible, to a broad range of community members.

We're funded through a mix of community grants, corporate planting projects, and donations from people like you. These funds go directly toward purchasing the seedlings we distribute each year at no cost to the community.

Individuals and businesses can donate online, via our website, or by mailing checks to our address at P.O. Box 56, Lutsen, MN 55612. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and our Federal ID number is 93-1643546.