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Sarah Nichols, certified arborist and landscape contractor, has been working tirelessly to beautify Vallejo since 2000. She has been the driving force for a number of projects in Vallejo. The Capitol Stairs project took an old, dilapidated set of stairs in the historic downtown that was the site of drug use and prostitution and turned it into a stunning example of mosaic art that highlights the history of Vallejo. The Capitol Stairs Working Group has now segued into the Capitol Stairs Community Stewards (CSCS). The intent of the CSCS is to install the landscaping surrounding the stairs and to raise the necessary funds to create a foundation that will pay for the continued maintenance of the stairs in perpetuity.
Sarah was a member of the Beautification Advisory Commission (BCA) from 2002 until 2007, where she created a Master Tree List and facilitated Vallejo’s Public Works Department in procuring the V.A.L.U.E. Grant that provided state funds dedicated to pruning Vallejo’s city trees and to implement community outreach to educate the public of the value of their urban forest. When she was a member of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum board, Sarah designed the now-annual Vallejo Museum Garden Tour fundraising event in collaboration with the BCA.
Through her nonprofit, SAGE, Sarah developed the Mean Streets to Green Streets program funded by Federal Community Block Grants that determined the most effective way to calm and beautify Vallejo streets by planting street trees, installing pedestrian lighting, and creating bicycle paths.
Sarah also has collaborated with Vallejo schools and produced and designed color, hardbound catalogues of “Celebrating Vallejo’s Urban Forest” exhibit. She also created a tree identification booklet that teaches Vallejo elementary school children the names of trees growing on their schools’ campuses and the names of the trees that they planted on their field trips. In addition, she created a tree identification publication of “South Solano County’s 100+ Trees” illustrated by Jesse Bethel High School students.
Sarah has also been instrumental in a number of planting projects with Vallejo's elementary school children paid for by grants from the Forest Service and CalFire. Trees were planted in City Park, along Walnut Avenue on Mare Island, and on the Forest Service and Touro University Campuses. We all are thankful for her tireless efforts to keep our city Green!