Revisiting the Lorax of Las Vegas

While our producers are taking a much-needed vacation, we’re revisiting one of our favorite City Cast Las Vegas interviews with the woman we’ve dubbed the Lorax of Las Vegas: Lisa Ortega, Master Arborist. This episode originally aired on June 14, 2022.

Las Vegas is the fastest-warming city in the U.S. — and that's only made worse by the urban heat island effect, caused by dense concentrations of heat-trapping concrete, asphalt, glass, and steel. (Read more about Southern Nevada's extreme heat vulnerability on this site from RTC: Southern Nevada Strong.) The effect isn't evenly distributed: Our neighbors in the center and Eastside of the city see even higher temperatures from older infrastructure and more blacktop.

This April, the City of Las Vegas announced a plan to plant 60,000 trees by 2025 to combat the city's extreme heat. In today's episode, the state’s only female Master Arborist and founder of the non-profit Nevada Plants, Lisa Ortega, joins host Dayvid Figler to discuss why trees are the answer to our heat problems, how this disproportionally affects communities of color, and why we might just be able to dub her the Lorax of Las Vegas.

Do you have a favorite trees? Thoughts on our warming city? Leave us a voicemail or a text message at 702-514-0719. Or find us on Twitter @CityCastVegas and gives us your best hot take.

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