Remember how the sun makes everything look beautiful? (FoT file)

By Andy Meeks

Last Saturday – the first beautiful day in weeks (and, so far, the last) – Friends of Trees hosted a Summer Festival Volunteer Training at the PCC Cascade campus.  We were thrilled to have nine very enthusiastic people join us to learn about the different Friends of Trees programs, our past achievements and our future goals of growing healthy communities in the Portland-Vancouver region.

Some of many things they learned on Saturday:

• Friends of Trees planted almost 17,000 trees last season in our Neighborhood Trees and Green Space Initiative programs – over 4,500 of which were large street trees – all of which are loving this rain.
• The urban canopy in Portland intercepts billions of gallons of stormwater from entering the sewer systems that are already under heavy stress from this month-long deluge.
• For $35 to $75 – sometimes less – homeowners in Portland can receive an 8- to 12-foot tall tree, including: delivery, hole digging, planting assistance, utility locates, mulch, stakes, and first-year follow-up maintenance checks (approximately a $200 value).
• Friends of Trees just completed the first year of a three-year partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation and Metro, during which community volunteers will plant thousands of trees and shrubs along the I-205 Multi-Use Path from the Columbia River south to the City of Gladstone.

Look for the Friends of Trees’ white canopy at many of this summer’s street fairs, festivals and Sunday Parkways events and you’ll have a chance to meet these Summer Festival Volunteers and many of our staff members and ask how you can get involved – whether by purchasing a tree for your planting strip, volunteering for one of many roles, or participating in our Gift Tree program.

Check out our calendar of events to see where we’ll be.  We look forward to seeing you out there on one of the many sunny days we’ll surely be enjoying soon!

Meeks is the Volunteer & Outreach Specialist for Friends of Trees.

Friends of Trees staffer Betsy Lattig, purple, shared a special moment with her family at the Gift Trees planting March 28 in Collins Sanctuary. (Brian Black)

By Teri Ruch

Honor your mother and the earth by giving Friends of Trees Gift Trees for Mother’s Day. For a donation of $35, Friends of Trees will plant a young native tree in honor of your mother and send a gift acknowledgment card in her name.

Gift Trees are planted in the Collins Sanctuary adjacent to Forest Park during one of two annual Gift Trees plantings. All who give or receive Gift Trees for Mother’s Day this year will be invited to the next Gift Trees planting in the fall. A Gift Tree costs $35, and a Gift Grove of six young native trees costs $100.

In 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 Parks Foundation, the land was purchased by Metro in 2008. Now, through Friends of Trees’ partnership with Metro and the Audubon Society of Portland, the sanctuary is being restored.

Friends of Trees’ Gift Trees program is part of its Green Space Initiative, a program that guides volunteers in restoring green spaces throughout the Portland-Vancouver metro area. Order your Gift Trees donation online now to ensure it is mailed in time for Mother’s Day!

Since 1989, Friends of Trees’ thousands of volunteers have planted more than 390,000 trees and native plants. To learn more or to order Gift Trees, visit www.FriendsofTrees.org/GiftTrees or call Melissa at 503-282-8846 ext. 23.

Ruch is the communications director for Friends of Trees: terir@FriendsofTrees.org; 503-282-8846 ext. 17

Metro Council President David Bragdon, right, planted with Friends of Trees at the I-205 Multi-Use Path planting on March 20, 2010. (FOT file)

Congratulations to Metro Council President David Bragdon, who received the 2010 Excellence in Urban Forest Leadership Award from The Arbor Day Foundation. Bragdon received the award for his role in preserving and restoring forest and park land in the Portland-metro region.

Metro is a key partner in two Friends of Trees projects initiated this year–a three-year project with the Oregon Department of Transportation to green the I-205 Multi-Use Path and a partnership with the Audubon Society of Portland to restore the Collins Sanctuary, 84-acres of natural area adjacent to Forest Park, which Metro purchased and designated for restoration.

Friends of Trees’ Gift Trees were planted in the Collins Sanctuary during the 2009-10 planting season and will be planted in the sanctuary in the coming years as well.

The project to green the I-205 Multi-Use Path is supported by a $410,000 Metro Nature in Neighborhoods capital grant made possible through voter-approved funding in 2006 to purchase and restore natural areas in the Portland metro area. As a result of the project, thousands of trees will be planted along the 16.5-mile path used by pedestrians, bicyclers, and transit users.

Read more about the award on OregonLive.

–Teri Ruch

Neighborhood Trees Manager Whitney Dorer and Conan Harmon-Walker at the Friends of Trees anniversary party Nov. 15. (FOT file)

By Shelli Romero

March 20 marked the fifth in a series of community tree plantings along the I-205 Multi-Use Path. It also marked another milestone: the 249th tree planting at which Conan Harmon-Walker volunteered.

Born and reared in Oregon, Harmon-Walker is a network administrator for Legacy Health Systems and a 14-year volunteer with Friends of Trees. He participates in an abundance of Friends of Trees’ Neighborhood Trees (NT) and Green Space Initiative (GSI) plantings, setting milestone goals as part of his personal commitment to contribute to the community.

Harmon-Walker crew leading at the Nov. 21 NT planting in Sellwood . (FOT file)

“I was an earth science major in the seventies and studied global warming,” he explained. “Planting trees is something I can do that’s local and meaningful.”

On this particular Saturday, beneath the warm rays of the sun at Southeast 95th and Hawthorne in the Montavilla neighborhood, Harmon-Walker helped sign in volunteers and assisted with tree plantings throughout the morning.

Harmon-Walker is a trained Friends of Trees crew leader who has guided hundreds of volunteers throughout the years. The March 20 planting was part of a three-year partnership among Friends of Trees, ODOT and Metro to plant thousands of trees and shrubs along the path, which is used extensively by bicyclists, pedestrians and transit users.

“Improvements to the Multi-Use Path are important; and adding trees and shrubs is a wonderful follow-on improvement as it will help shield the community from I-205 and thousands of cars that go by,” Harmon-Walker said.

In addition to enhancing the path for bordering neighborhoods, the plantings will reduce air pollution, minimize storm-water runoff into streams and rivers, and provide habitat for wildlife.

When complete, ODOT will showcase the project as a statewide model for considering the greening of other transportation corridors.

“This project will improve air quality and livability for this area at the very least, and I would like to encourage more people to get involved and let our policy makers know that this project is important to the community,” said Harmon-Walker.

The next weekend marked Harmon-Walker’s 250th planting with Friends of Trees, equating to about 14,000 trees and shrubs in the ground.

In recognition of his amazing achievement, Friends of Trees planted a grove of trees in his honor at their biannual Gift Trees planting on March 28.

“I planted trees with my father when I was a boy, and my teenage sons have planted with me since they were boys,” explained Harmon-Walker. “It’s the best way we know to leave a legacy.”

Romero is public policy and community affairs manager, ODOT-Region I

Over 70 people participated in the second and final Friends of Trees Gift Trees planting of the season Sunday.

These special invite-only plantings are made available to those who gave or received a Gift Tree. Most often, these gifts are made in honor or memory of someone special.

At the first planting in December, 275 native trees and shrubs were planted. On Sunday, 470 trees and shrubs were planted.

Friends of Trees plants its Gift Trees in the Metro-owned Collins Sanctuary, which is adjacent to Forest Park in Portland.

The planting of small native species is seen as important restoration work for the site, which is also managed by the Audubon Society of Portland.

Gift Trees plantings are housed within the Friends of Trees Green Space Initiative program because of the restoration work done to natural areas.

Photo credits: Brian Black & Tom Atiyeh

–Toshio Suzuki

This partnership with a local business helps Friends of Trees plant via its Gift Trees program. (CascadeWebDevelopment.com)

Friends of Trees and Cascade Web Development have entered a partnership that aims to give back to business clients by planting trees.

The local Web solutions company will donate a tree via Friends of Trees and its Gift Trees program to every new client they receive for their content management system, called Evergreen.

“This is a great partnership because it allows Friends of Trees to connect with local businesses in a green, tree-planting way,” said Melissa Barber, associate director of membership services.

Cascade Web Development can be reached at 503-517-2700.

Did we mention their office is in an old Milwaukee Road Railcar stationed near OMSI?

–Toshio Suzuki

At her first Gift Trees planting in December, OraLee Olson planted 21 trees in memory of her son, Barry Cooper Olson, whom she lost last year to depression and alcoholism.

Barry Olson before a trip to Mt. Hood in 2008. (OraLee Olson)

As of today, Olson’s friends and family have ordered nearly 75 trees to be planted in Barry’s memory: a lasting gift of remembrance to the mother of an outdoors enthusiast.

“It means an awful lot to me,” said Olson, who intends to have all the custom cards that come with Gift Trees hanging from an evergreen at an upcoming memorial service. “He was very concerned about deforestation and the Earth,” said Olson.

A native Oregonian—born in Eugene and reared in Bend and Portland—Barry loved his field study courses at Portland State University that took him out into the Old Growth.

“We knew he was going to be a biologist from childhood,” said Olson, remembering her son’s fondness of the nature center at Sunriver Resort.

OraLee Olson at the Dec. 8 Gift Trees planting. The next planting is March 28. (Brian Black)

Barry was an ASE Master Mechanic until he had an accident and broke his neck, limiting his ability for the strenuous work.

When he decided to re-enter school, Barry was unfazed by retaking general science courses, even making the dean’s list at Portland Community College before graduating in 2008 from PSU with a double-major in Biology and Philosophy.

“(Barry) was hoping to be a part of conservation efforts in forestry or fish and wildlife,” wrote Olson. “He had a great love for Old Growth forests and hoped to make a difference in helping to preserve them.”

This spring will be the one year anniversary of Barry’s passing. Olson said she will plant the remainder of her Gift Trees with her daughter at the next planting, March 28.

In memorial letters to loved ones, Olson requested remembrance gifts be made via the Friends of Trees Gift Trees program, which plants at the Metro-owned Collins Sanctuary near the Audubon Society of Portland.

“It was important for Friends of Trees, Portland, the Earth, all the way around,” said Olson. “It also gives me a place to just go and talk to Barry.”

“I miss him so much.”

–Toshio Suzuki

The movie star on the right bought the movie star on the left an $18,500 tree for Valentine's Day. (Granitz/Wireimage.com)

Angelina Jolie bought her husband and cohort Brad Pitt a 200-year-old Olive Tree for Valentine’s Day, reports US Magazine and The Sun.

The movie star couple and hurricane of international goodwill reportedly spent $18,500 for the tree, which will be planted, or transplanted, at their French chateau.

In comparison, a single tree purchased and planted via the Friends of Trees Gift Trees program costs $35. A grove of six trees costs $100.

Here is a photo archive of last December’s Gift Trees planting in the Collins Sanctuary.

The next Gift Trees planting is March 28 at the same location.

Like anyone else, Jolie and Pitt will receive an invitation to this planting if they give or receive any Gift Trees prior to Feb. 22.

–Toshio Suzuki

There are 21 plantings remaining, through April 10. (FOT file)

In its 20 year history, Friends of Trees has planted over 382,000 trees and shrubs in the Portland-metro area.

During our current planting season, which runs through April, this tally is going up every weekend.

It’s an impressive mechanism to watch: teams of volunteers lending each other a hand; and a dedicated staff working as long as it takes to ensure every tree at every planting gets put in the ground properly.

There are 21 plantings remaining between the Neighborhood Trees (NT) and Green Space Initiative (GSI) programs. Among them are this weekend’s Valentine’s Day planting—which is hosted at the Friends of Trees office on NE ML King Jr. Blvd.—and future bike plantings and a March 28 Gift Trees planting.

Here are some highlights so far from this season:

• The first of two Gift Trees plantings this season at Collins Sanctuary in Forest Park
• The I-205 Multi-Use Path is getting trees, and community members are excited
• GSI already planted in Tigard, along the Willamette River, and at the Audubon Society this season
• Oh, and before we forget, for those who haven’t signed up for trees yet, a special discount for blog readers is available.

Thanks again—and let’s get to planting trees!

–Toshio Suzuki

Saturday morning, the Audubon Society of Portland hosted a sneak peak tour of Collins Sanctuary, a recent Metro purchase with voter-approved dollars.

As the elected officials in the video will tell you (Metro President David Bragdon; Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder; Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish), Metro is partnering with Friends of Trees’ Gift Trees program to do natural area restoration on the over 80-acre parcel of land.

Here is a little of the back story of Collins Sanctuary.

And here is a snippet on what the previous Gift Trees planting was like in December.

Check back in for more personal Gift Trees stories as we lead up to our next March 28 planting.

–Toshio Suzuki

Click this button to shop for Friends of Trees.

Don’t forget, Gift Trees are a unique and romantic Valentine’s Day gift.

Visit this post for Gift Trees details, and order yours by Wednesday so we can mail the accompanying  card in time to reach your valentine by Feb. 14.

If you prefer to give a more traditional gift, please consider supporting Friends of Trees as you shop at CafeGive.

When you use Friends of Trees’ account—make sure you see our logo in the upper right corner of the CafeGive page— a percentage of your purchase supports our tree plantings.

The new blog button on the right-hand side will always take you to CafeGive and set your shopping preference in support of Friends of Trees.

Here’s a sample of the more than 200 stores where you can shop through Friends of Trees’ CafeGive page: KEEN, The North Face, Muck Boots, Gaiam, Adidas, Travelocity, Borders, Gap, 1-800-Flowers.com, and Chocolate.com.

–Teri Ruch

The Oregon State Bird: Western Meadowlark. (State of Oregon)

The Audubon Society of Portland is hosting an adult education course on winter tree identification Sunday, Feb. 21.

The $25-35 course led by Steve Engel will start in a classroom then head out into the Audubon Sanctuary after a sack lunch. Pre-registration is required.

Friends of Trees and the Audubon Society of Portland partner on many area projects, including an upcoming Gift Trees planting and a crew leader training last November (watch video).

–Toshio Suzuki

Crew Leaders Amber and Byron Clayton never stray far from each other at plantings, like this one last month along the I-205 Multi-Use Path. (Chijo Takeda)

This year, love each other and the Earth by giving Friends of Trees Gift Trees for Valentine’s Day.

For a donation of just $35, Friends of Trees will plant a young native tree in honor of a loved one and send a gift acknowledgement card in their name. It’s a great cause and a fun, green alternative to the standard Valentine’s Day fare. One single tree costs $35, and a grove of six young native trees costs $100.

Gift Trees are planted in the Collins Sanctuary in Forest Park during one of two annual Gift Trees plantings. All who give or receive Gift Trees for Valentine’s Day this year will be invited to plant their trees at the planting on March 28. Because nothing says I love you quite like getting your hands dirty with your sweetheart!

“Trees are much more lasting than jewelry,” said Steve Smith at Friends of Trees’ December Gift Trees planting. He and his wife Kelsey Wirtzfeld plant Gift Trees together each year in honor of their marriage. Both look forward to visiting the trees as they grow and seeing them provide food and shelter for wildlife in Forest Park.

In 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 Parks Foundation, the land was purchased by Metro in 2008. Now, through Friends of Trees’ partnership with Metro and the Audubon Society of Portland, the sanctuary is being restored.

For all who want to plant trees on Valentine’s weekend itself, volunteers are welcome at both of Friends of Trees’ plantings scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 13. The new Friends of Trees mascot will offer valentines to planters at the Boise, Eliot, Humboldt and King planting, which begins at 9 a.m. at Friends of Trees’ office, at 3117 NE ML King Jr. Blvd.

Friends of Trees’ Gift Trees program is part of its Green Space Initiative, a program that guides volunteers in restoring green spaces throughout the Portland-Vancouver metro area. Friends of Trees’ Neighborhood Trees program offers high-quality street and yard trees at bargain prices and helps neighbors plant their trees together at weekend community events.

Since 1989, Friends of Trees’ thousands of volunteers have planted more than 380,000 trees and native plants. To learn more or to order Gift Trees, visit www.FriendsofTrees.org/GiftTrees or call Melissa at 503-282-8846 ext. 23.

By Teri Ruch, communications director for Friends of Trees: 503-282-8846 ext. 17; terir@FriendsofTrees.org

There are 32 plantings in the next three months. (FOT file)

Thanks to its two programs (Neighborhood Trees and Green Space Initiative), Friends of Trees has already planted 5,440 trees and shrubs this planting season. The same planting season that started Sept. 26.

With 32 plantings left, there is still plenty of time to roll up the sleeves and contribute to cleaning our communal air and water, in addition to increasing the tree canopy in Oregon. Here is a link to the planting calendar.

Some highlights so far:

• The first of two Gift Trees plantings this season at Collins Sanctuary in Forest Park
• The I-205 Multi-Use Path is getting trees, and community members are excited
• GSI already planted in Tigard, along the Willamette River, and at the Audubon Society this season
• Oh, and before we forget, for those who haven’t signed up for trees yet, a special discount for blog readers is available.

Thanks again—and let’s get to planting trees!

–Toshio Suzuki

Sue Staehli kneels behind her planted Western Redcedar. (Brian Black)

For the first time Sunday, Friends of Trees planted at Collins Sanctuary in Forest Park.

In a celebratory, invite-only planting, volunteers who gave or received Gift Trees came together on a crisp and beautiful December morning to plant trees in honor and memory.

While one goal of the day was to restore the structure and overarching tree canopy, for many planters—a few of whom came from as far as McMinnville—there were very specific, personal reasons for wanting to plant living roots into the soil.

As Sister Pat Nagle said during her short pre-planting benediction: “For in the tree of life, their roots and ours are forever intertwined.”

-To give the gift that keeps growing and see an example of the acknowledgment card please visit our web site. Order your customized card by December 15th to receive it before the holidays.

-Don’t despair if you’re a last-minute shopper like us. This year we also have pre-printed Gift Trees cards available in all seven Backyard Bird Shop locations and at our office.

-The next Gift Trees planting will be March 28, 2010, also at Collins Sanctuary.

Click on the photos to see more. (Brian Black)

–Melissa Barber and Toshio Suzuki