Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples of the Salish Sea region have stewarded the lands now known as Seattle. When white settlers arrived in 1851, the area was covered in old growth forest. Settlers cut and sold the forest for lumber. By 1890, just a few stands of conifers remained in the present-day city limits. Early attempts to restore Seattle's canopy included a 1903 city approval of the Olmsted Brothers' plan to create a network of parkes and boulevards. In 1930, Seattle hired its first City Arborist. Then, in 1967, the city formally placed the development of street tree programs under the Seattle Engineering Department (SED). From the 1990s through the early 2000s, SED employee Liz Ellis expanded her department's impact on the urban forest. Ellis leveraged limited resources by training volunteers, applying for grants, and building coalitions.

The scope of this series is centered around Liz Ellis's tenure as an arboriculturist and tree stewardship program coordinator, with most records in the years 1993-2006. Ellis was heavily involved in training volunteers, partnering with citizens, and doing education and outreach. During Ellis's employment, the City of Seattle underwent departmental re-organization. Her office began in the Seattle Engineering Department (SED), later re-organized into Seattle Transportation (SeaTran), and finally, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Series includes printed and handwritten records, photographs, and drawings related to the planning and care of Seattle's street trees and street side plantings. Includes volunteer trainings and public-private partnerships created by City of Seattle employee Liz Ellis, mostly from 1993-2006. Includes records from many special projects, including the volunteer training Tree Steward Program (TSP); the public-private partnership TREEmendous Seattle; Springwood Press and Neighbors' Gardening Circular newsletters; the Urban Forestry Coalition (UFC); Seattle Tree Advisory Board (STAB); Urban Forestry Outreach (UFO); Seattle Environmental Education Committee; Sustainable Seattle; Global ReLeaf; Ag in the Classroom; ReLeaf Seattle; Re-Greening Seattle; Trees Across Washington; Heritage Tree Program; Open Space Advocates; Earth Day; Arbor Day; Arbor Month; and the Streetside Garden Contest. Funding for some of these programs came from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods' (DON) Small and Simple Grants; the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC); or the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Includes records of day-to-day operations of the forestry division of the Seattle Department of Transportation, including urban forestry master plans, budgets, sampled work orders, and correspondence.