Eugene & Springfield winter newsletter
“Another beautiful winter is nearing its end. Alder catkins are releasing their pollen. Across the city, trees’ leafless forms stand out against winter skies. I love this time of year and the anticipation of spring. The bustle of the holidays and the typically wet months of November and December are behind us, as is our coldest month of January, and one can feel the sunlight strengthening. The leaves of camas and other bulbs are rising from the ground, and buds are swelling.
“I believe 2012 will be an especially productive year for Friends of Trees, and I am grateful to all who helped build Eugene Tree Foundation and bring Friends of Trees to where it is today. …
“Some of the highlights of the last few months for me include FOT’s first three tree plantings in Springfield. In the first one, volunteers planted 263 trees on December 10 in Rob Adams Park, in collaboration with Willamalane Park and Recreation District. One remarkable part of this planting was seeing a bike trailer climb the steep hill to the park carrying 38 Douglas-fir trees from Eugene. Kory Northrop, a graduate student at the University of Oregon, transported the trees to the site by bicycle and planted each one as a part of a student project.
“On January 14, FOT worked with Willamalane again, as well as the Portland Timbers, to plant 100 trees on a seasonal island of the McKenzie River at Harvest Landing Park. At this event, more than 50 volunteers watered and mulched the 100 trees with a bucket brigade that went down one side of a ravine and up the other. Another nice aspect of this planting was seeing the caravan of 22 volunteers from the UO Outdoor Program arrive at the planting by bike.
“In the third Springfield event this winter, on MLK Day, volunteers–including an Environmental Studies class from the UO–planted native trees and herbaceous plants and removed ivy and blackberries from Eastgate Woodlands.
“In this newsletter, we announce the launch of our Neighborhood Tree program and our pruning program. I hope you will join us to make these programs thrive. Happy winter and spring!”
–The above is an excerpt from FOT Eugene Director Erik Burke’s “Director’s Corner” in the Winter 2012 newsletter for Friends of Trees Eugene. See the calendar of Eugene-Springfield events here. To learn more about Friends of Trees Eugene and its new neighborhood planting and pruning programs, email Erik at [email protected] or call him at 541-632-3683. You can print a PDF file of the entire Winter 2012 issue or find archives of past issues on Friends of Trees’ web site.