Former FOT board member appointed to Oregon Attorney General’s office

You’ve probably seen him on a Saturday morning in a bright orange vest with a Friends of Trees logo on the back. Or on wet days, in a yellow slicker. You may have even planted on his crew.

Now Attorney General John Kroger has appointed Friends of Trees’ decade-long crew leader and former board member Paul Garrahan as Special Counsel to the Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources. In that role, Paul will undoubtedly carry on the work he began at Metro and furthered as a dedicated volunteer at Friends of Trees.

Before assuming his new position with the Attorney General’s office, Paul was Senior Attorney at Metro, where he served as lead attorney for the Natural Areas Acquisition Program and provided advice for several environmental programs. Last month he stepped down as a Friends of Trees board member, where he’d served for eight years in many capacities, including board president and vice president.

During those eight years, Paul saw the organization through tough times, including the post 9/11 years and the current economic downturn.

“It has been an exceptional honor to have served on the FOT board for the last eight years,” Paul said. “To see how financially stable and well-positioned the organization is today compared to where it was when I started on the board is extremely gratifying. It was an honor to have had the chance to play a small role in that transformation.”

Paul started volunteering with Friends of Trees as a neighborhood coordinator a decade ago, when he experienced first-hand the excitement of helping his neighbors plant trees and the “amazing bonus” of watching his neighbors form friendships as they planted together and shared a potluck afterward.

He’s also been a crew leader for a decade, and he plans to continue in that role as time allows.

Paul’s “dedication and commitment as a board member, crew leader, neighborhood coordinator, donor and advocate is unparalleled and greatly appreciated,” said Friends of Trees Executive Director Scott Fogarty. “We’re grateful for everything he’s done for Friends of Trees.”

Friends of Trees staff and volunteers look forward to watching Paul continue helping the environment in his new role. We also look forward to fun, dirty and possibly wet weekend mornings of planting trees together this fall!

–TR