01
Identify
Work with restoration partners to identify environmental needs and select appropriate native species.
The Legacy Tree Project
A classroom can help change a landscape.
The Legacy Tree Project connects environmental education with meaningful action. Students investigate the relationships between native plants, climate, water, soil and ecosystems while taking responsibility for trees that will contribute to restoration. Through a growing cycle that continues from one class to the next, students experience how individual contributions become part of a longer community effort.
Plant Seeds. Grow Leaders. Create Change.
How the program works
From a seed in the classroom to a healthier landscape.
02
Plant & Grow
Students plant native seeds, care for their seedlings and explore science through a developing curriculum aligned with state standards.
03
Restore
Students, community partners and volunteers plant native trees to support wildfire recovery, habitat restoration and community needs.
04
Monitor & Learn
Each restoration planting will be monitored for three years to document tree survival, growth and environmental conditions.
Along the way, students investigate real environmental challenges, from wildfire recovery and native habitat restoration to radiant heat, water conservation and how trees can help cool our cities.
From a classroom in 2025 to a forest in 2026.
In March 2025, students planted native ironwood seeds. Over the following months, they cared for the growing trees while learning about the Sonoran Desert and the conditions native plants need to survive.
On November 14, 2026, students are preparing to bring 150 of those trees to the Bush Fire burn scar in Tonto National Forest alongside Natural Restorations and community volunteers.
This first restoration planting connects what students have learned in the classroom with meaningful work on public lands.
Follow the project
Why this matters
The Bush Fire burn scar.
In June 2020, the Bush Fire burned 193,455 acres of Tonto National Forest, including the Four Peaks area where students will plant. Over 80,000 iconic saguaros were impacted in a desert ecosystem that did not evolve to survive wildfire.
Natural Restorations has been leading the recovery since 2023, replanting thousands of saguaros and cacti in the burn scar. Legacy Tree students are growing ironwoods, nurse plants that help young saguaros and other native species survive, to add to this ongoing effort.
Read the full story
The Bush Fire burn scar, Tonto National Forest. Photographs from a Natural Restorations site visit.
Growing Right Now
Students growing trees, and trees headed for the forest.
96
Students Participating
400
Native Trees Growing
150
Ironwoods Ready to Plant
Trees are growing now, with the first 150 ironwoods ready to plant on November 14, 2026 at Four Peaks in Tonto National Forest. Each restoration planting will be monitored for three years to document tree survival, growth and environmental conditions.
The People Behind It
Rooted in Restoration. Growing Through Education.
Natural Restorations is an Arizona nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring our public lands while bringing people together through meaningful conservation work.
Founded in 2015 by Nicole and Justin Corey, the organization has built an extraordinary community of volunteers, military veterans and supporters who are making a measurable difference across Arizona.
From removing trash and graffiti in remote wilderness areas to replanting native vegetation in wildfire-damaged landscapes, their work demonstrates what communities can accomplish when people come together with a shared purpose.
Restoration in Action
116,500+
Native cacti, trees and plants established through restoration projects
16,400+
Community volunteers engaged
4,024
Saguaros replanted
60,000+
Volunteer hours dedicated to restoring public lands
Bringing Restoration into the Classroom
The Legacy Tree Project is now part of Natural Restorations, expanding its educational mission by connecting students directly to the restoration of Arizona’s public lands.
Through the program, students grow native trees from seed, study the environmental challenges facing our region and take part in real restoration efforts.
Each school year, students care for trees grown by the class before them, help return those trees to the landscape and begin growing the next generation of seedlings.
With Natural Restorations’ experience in replanting, volunteer coordination and field restoration, the work students begin in their classrooms becomes part of a larger conservation effort.
Together, we’re creating more opportunities for young people to learn about the environment, contribute to their communities and see the difference their efforts can make.
Explore the work behind the restoration.
Natural Restorations brings volunteers, partners and communities together to restore Arizona’s landscapes. Discover how to support their work.
Explore Natural Restorations Photo gallery
Real moments from our school nurseries, planting days and field trips.
Sometimes it starts with something as simple as planting a seed.
The Legacy Tree Project. Plant Seeds. Grow Leaders. Create Change.