Sun & community service draw diverse crowd to I-205 planting

More than a hundred volunteers, including Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, joined Friends of Trees, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and Metro for a sunny Earth Day planting on April 23. Volunteers planted 170 trees at the event, which wrapped up the second season of a three-year project to green the I-205 Multi-Use Path.

Planters included volunteers from Friends of the Children, East Portland Action Plan, Girl Scout troops, and at-risk youth from the Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, whose jobs were created through Portland Development Commission funds supporting the greening project.

Nearly 4,000 trees and shrubs have been planted to date along the 16.5-mile path, which extends from the Columbia River in North Portland southward to the city of Gladstone. Two of the more than a dozen planting events along the path since October have included the Portland Timbers and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Kroger, who traveled the I-205 Multi-Use Path on a cross-country bicycle trip, noted the lack of shade along the path. He said he looked forward to “years from now when these trees have grown up,” pointing out that the trees will provide noise reduction and shade, and help reduce soil erosion.

One of the Girl Scouts planting trees with Kroger explained that she and her friends were going to a water park after the planting. “The water park is mostly fun,” she said. “Planting trees is fun and community service.”

Community service is a key part of the project. At the start of the planting, Shelli Romero, Public Policy & Community Affairs Manager for ODOT-Region 1, thanked the crowd for “bringing the sunshine out and for bringing your energy out.”

“Our city is one of the few in the U.S. where the city is growing in population and the tree cover is increasing,” said Friends of Trees board member Charlie Hales. “That’s because of you.”

The project is funded by a $410,000 Metro Nature in Neighborhoods capital grant and support from East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., and many area businesses. Cantel Sweeping sponsored the April 23 planting.

–TR