Category: Habitat
Tree walks & tree talks for you
It’s the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this year. Friends of Trees was planning to celebrate in our usual fashion: Planting trees. Together. But, like everyone, our plans changed.
We would, of course, prefer to be outside with you. But since we can’t we have some really special virtual tree treats for you.
Since trees and nature can be so comforting, the Friends of Trees staff contributed to Earth Day with some homemade tree talk videos; we’re hoping these will tide you over until we can plant trees with you again. Below is a selection of our work, you can find the entire playlist here (we’ll be adding more, so check back!).
Give the gift that fights climate change
Surprise your friend or loved one this holiday season with a gift that will grow over time, improve local natural areas, and clean our air & water!
Surprise your friend or loved one this holiday season with a gift that will grow over time, improve local natural areas, and clean our air & water!Gift Trees are a lasting legacy that honor or remember loved ones while improving our environment. All Gift Trees are planted through our Green Space Program, which restores sensitive natural areas in our region. And with Friends of Trees, Gift Tree purchasers and recipients have the option to plant their Gift Tree. However, if you cannot attend a Gift Trees planting event we will make sure your Gift Tree gets planted.
For each Gift Tree (or grove of 6 trees), you will be able to choose a certificate you can customize with your recipient’s name and print at home.
You and your gift recipient can join Friends of Trees to plant the tree, if you wish, during one of our Gift Tree planting events during the coming year—or we can plant it for you. Gift Tree FAQs
Please note: The deadline has passed if you’d like to have a paper certificate mailed to you in time for Christmas giving; however, if you’re in a crunch, please email Kathy directly and we’ll try to make it happen. Remember, you can order a Gift Tree and print your own certificate at any time. Donate to order your Gift Tree here.
All Gift Trees support natural area restoration through Friends of Trees’ Green Space Program. Thank you for greening our world through your holiday giving!
PGE announces $100k, 5 year grant to reach 1 million trees planted
This Saturday, April 13th, Friends of Trees volunteers will plant more than 1,000 trees and native shrubs in Tualatin with longtime partners Portland General Electric (PGE) and the City of Tualatin. PGE employees, including Maria Pope, PGE’s President and CEO, and their friends and family will be planting alongside representatives from the City of Tualatin and its Mayor Frank Bubenik, and community members.
This year, PGE announced a special gift of $100,000 that will help Friends of Trees reach the milestone of one million trees planted since its inception. PGE has supported Friends of Trees since its founding in 1989; PGE is sponsoring a total of 10 planting and tree-care events, bringing the total of PGE-sponsored plantings to more than 100 since 2005.
A press release with event details and contact information is here.
THANK YOU! Onward to 2019 …
A giant thank you to everyone who donated to trees + community during our year-end campaign!
Your support is absolutely crucial in order for us to engage so many volunteers and plant so many trees in so many places. Ever wonder how we use your donation? Please join Garry Oak in exploring how your donation makes a difference.
Happy New Year!
Welcoming the return of the sun … with trees
“Each Friends of Trees planting event is a series of moments, whether it’s somebody seeing a lizard, or a kid planting their first tree, or people who just happened to be walking by pitching in to help. One of the best moments is at the end of the day when everyone has a big smile on their face because they’ve really accomplished something: they planted trees.” Matt, Friends of Trees volunteer
Did you know that the oldest tree in the world is 5,062 years old? It’s a Pinus longaeva (Great Basin bristlecone pine) and it’s in California.
While we can’t claim with certainty that Friends of Trees just planted the newest tree in the world, it is possible, at least for a moment on any given Saturday, October-April, that we did indeed just plant the newest tree in the world. That’s another Friends of Trees moment: adding a tree–to our region, to our planet. And there are more than 50,000 moments like that every tree planting season.
As we celebrate the Winter Solstice and welcome the return of the sun we’re thinking about the various ways the shortest day of the year is celebrated, especially, of course, the celebrations that include trees. We’ve learned that some Winter Solstice celebrations include specific trees that have specific meanings; for instance, for some observants evergreens symbolize continuity of life, and oak trees symbolize endurance, strength, protection, and good luck.
We love this. Here’s how Friends of Trees interprets these special meanings of evergreens and oaks:
Continuity of life: trees provide oxygen!
Endurance, strength: trees can live to be hundreds, thousands of years old.
Protection: trees clean our air and water and help make us healthy.
Good luck: to me, it’s clear: the more trees we have, the luckier we are.
A recent paper by U.S. Forest Service scientists* reported that metropolitan areas in the U.S. are losing more than 30 million trees each year. This is tragic, but thanks to Friends of Trees’ friends and supporters, we’re not fretting, we’re taking action and tackling this loss, together, one moment at a time, one tree at a time – at more than 50,000 moments, and 50,000 trees, every year. You can help us take positive action through making a donation to Friends of Trees today! Your support helps grow our urban canopy, restore sensitive natural areas, and helps build community through planting trees – together.
Happy Solstice to you and yours, we look forward to longer days, the return of the sun, and more trees – join us!