Gift Trees to restore local sanctuary
Melissa Pelletier plants a gift tree in Wilsonville, Dec. 14. (Chijo Takeda)
By Melissa Barber
Friends of Trees is proud to partner with the Audubon Society of Portland and Metro to help restore the Collins Sanctuary in Forest Park. Our restoration effort in this unique and beautiful area in Portland’s West Hills are made possible by generous donations through our Gift Trees program.
The Collins Sanctuary, a legacy of the Collins Family Foundation, was gifted to the Oregon Parks Foundation in 1976. This marked the beginning of the Audubon Society of Portland’s work to restore the natural landscape and provide habitat for wildlife.
Over the years, the English Ivy and other invasive plants grew quickly and overwhelmed the newly-planted natives, until Metro purchased the land from the Oregon Parks Foundation in 2008.
Metro and Audubon restoration scientists have been working together in a concerted effort to speed up the invasive species removal and plant natives, which will thrive in the environment and stabilize the slopes. Through a partnership with our Gift Trees program, Friends of Trees is now able to plant even more vital native trees to make this sanctuary whole again.
Your support of our Gift Trees program directly provides the structure and overarching canopy that is needed in this urban forest.
During our 2009-10 planting season we invite our Gift Trees donors and recipients to dig in and help plant the trees that will one day become an old-growth forest.
Unlike typical Green Space Initiative plantings, special Gift Tree plantings are not open to the public. Gift tree givers or recipients are invited to attend, with space capped at 100 volunteers.
The next Gift Trees plantings at Collins Sanctuary are Dec. 6 and March 28. To be eligible for the March planting, donate a gift tree or a grove between now and the end of February.
See video here of a GSI crew leader training at the Audubon Society, earlier this month.
–Melissa Barber is the associate director of membership services for Friends of Trees. She can be reached at 503-282-8846 ext. 23 and MelissaB@FriendsofTrees.org.
Tags: Audubon, Collins Sanctuary, Gift Trees, Metro
I would like information on how to donate a tree or trees in memory of a friend to be planted in the Collins Sanctuary at Forest Park.
Thank you for any information you can give me.
Sincerely,
Margaret Schinkel
[...] -The next Gift Trees planting will be March 28, 2010, also at Collins Sanctuary. [...]
Margaret,
Thanks for your interest.
Here is a link about our Gift Trees program: http://www.friendsoftrees.org/support-us/gift-trees
And here is a recent post about yesterday’s Gift Trees planting: http://friendsoftrees.org/blog/2009/12/07/gift-trees-a-planting-to-remember/
My brother and sister and I would like to donate a grove of trees in memory of our Mother,who passed away in November in Portland.This is her wish and request! We would like to participate in the March 28th planting in Collins sanctuary. One of us lives in Portland and the other two will come from Canada and Colorado for this occasion.
As I understand it we just have to donate the gifted trees and we can join in the planting in March?! Is there a choice of trees?
I’m glad you do this, I have a tree in my front yard that my son and I planted with your help back in 2000 or 2001, our tree is happy and healthy
Susan
Thank you for asking more about our Gift Trees plantings, Susan. I’m so sorry to hear about your mother’s passing, but I’m glad to hear she was such an advocate for trees.
You are exactly right in that after you make your donation through our Gift Trees program I will invite you to our March 28th planting. The invitations will be mailed toward the end of February and will give you directions to the exact planting site.
All of the trees we plant through this program are native to the Pacific Northwest. We work with Audubon and Metro restoration specialists to determine which trees are needed to restore the site to is natural beauty.
While you can’t specify the tree type with your donation, I can tell you the tree types we planted at our December 6th planting: Grand Firs, Vine Maples, Indian Plums, Douglas Firs, Cascaras, Pacific Yew, Western Red Cedar, and Western Hemlock. I’m not sure how closely the March tree list will mimic this one since they’ve not yet had a chance to select the appropriate trees for the next planting.
Feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
All the best,
Melissa
Melissa Barber
Associate Director of Membership Services
503-282-8846 ext. 23
Become a friend of trees at http://www.FriendsofTrees.org/Member
[...] is a little of the back story of Collins [...]
[...] addition to slowing climate change and reducing air and water pollution, Gift Trees restore the Collins Sanctuary, a legacy from the Collins Family Foundation to Portland area residents. First given to the Oregon [...]
There’s no fool like an old fool.