SEPTEMBER 2024: A MILLION TREES | A MILLION STORIES | JOIN OUR TEAM

OUR MILLIONTH TREE* SEASON

Join us this planting season as we reach this milestone!

This season at Friends of Trees we will plant our millionth tree. Our millionth tree, like all of the trees and native shrubs we’ve planted, will be planted the Friends of Trees Way, with the power of community volunteers.

What does it mean to plant a million trees (*and native plants)? It’s so much more than a nice round number. It’s 75,000 volunteers chipping in on countless Saturday mornings across three dozen planting seasons. It’s neighborly connections made over pre-planting cups of coffee. It’s a young person’s newfound calling to climate action. It’s the satisfaction of revisiting a tree you planted years ago.

You’re invited to be a part of this! Our 36th planting season calendar is full of opportunities to volunteer with Friends of Trees, culminating in our millionth tree planted in April. Why not sign up to volunteer right now?

Our first planting events are in October, just a few weeks away! Check out our first events of the season in Hillsboro, Milwaukie, and Salem. (We’ll also have plenty of fun Millionth Tree events, so stay tuned!)

Whether it’s in a neighborhood or natural area, we need your help reaching the milestone of a million trees and native shrubs planted. If you’re an experienced volunteer and you’re ready to lead a crew, this is an amazing season to step up and become a Crew Leader. You can register for Crew Leader Trainings now!

By bringing together thousands of volunteers every planting season, we create a community of stewardship and protection for the trees and native plants we plant. Together, we help tree knowledge spread throughout our communities, and more and more people become invested in the health of the trees. It’s a million trees and so much more.

A MILLION STORIES

“I really like the feeling of dirt on my hands. It’s my connection to the planet.” –Vianey Mohr, Friends of Trees Volunteer Crew Leader

Vianey’s love of trees brought her to Friends of Trees. She has the equivalent of a bachelor’s in forestry from her education in Mexico, and she volunteered with Friends of Trees as part of her cooperative work experience. Vianey wants to share that connection with her family. Whenever she can, she brings her husband and children to planting events.

Part of our Millionth Tree season is reflecting on our rich history and the impact we’ve made together. We want to celebrate our past as we look toward the future. That’s where you all come in. Your stories are part of our community’s history. Like Vianey, everyone has a story about their connection to trees.

We want to hear your Friends of Trees story!

Whether its a funny anecdote, a lovely little memory, or a longer tale, we want to hear about the special moments you’ve had with Friends of Trees throughout our entire 35 year history.

• What brought you to Friends of Trees?
• What’s a favorite planting memory?
• Did you plant a tree years ago that you still have a relationship with?
• Did you make a friend at a planting event?

Your stories will help us celebrate our Millionth Tree season! Our millionth tree is a true milestone, and we want to honor the 999,999 trees that came before it and the thousands of volunteers that made it happen. Your submission could make it into a Treemail story or a social media post!

Have a story? Fill out this simple form. Thank you for taking the time to share!

THE EUGENE BRANCH

Kicking off the season with pruning and natural area events!

In Eugene and Springfield, Friends of Trees has been growing a robust community of tree stewards through our community pruning events. We have two more pruning events in October, each one with a small but mighty crew of pruners. By keeping these events intimate, each pruner gets plenty of hands-on experience with a process that is both art and science.

“Young tree pruning is the most cost effective thing you can do for an urban forest,” says Eugene Director Erik Burke.

The Eugene Springfield team will kick off their planting events with two natural area plantings. On November 9th, we’ll return to an area in West Eugene where we mulched and weeded past planting pods in April, adding new plants to enhance the site.

On November 23rd, we’ll have our Northwest Expressway planting— phase 11 of this planting project! It’s a prime example of putting trees in places where there’s plenty of room for trees and the benefits they provide. We plant large tree species, and also plant shrubs and bulbs to create a multi-level habitat for pollinators and wildlife. As each phase matures it does more and more to clean the air from the expressway and the railroad.

Check out our volunteer page to sign up for this season’s events!

BECOME A CREW LEADER

We’ll kick off our 36th planting season in October. Join us!

Love the idea of learning from and leading community members to plant trees? Looking for a way to take climate action? Want to make a lasting, positive impact in a fun outdoor environment? Join our Crew Leader Training Program to mentor others in your community, make meaningful connections, and of course, plant trees!

This program is open to everyone, no experience needed. It’s a great way to learn new skills and build a sense of place in your community. Visit our website to sign up and join our crew leader training this fall!

Register here.

JOIN OUR TEAM

Our Green Space Specialists are our natural area planting rock stars. We’re looking for candidates who are passionate about native plants and community building. Spread the word!

Based in Portland, apply by 10/20. Visit our Jobs page for the full position description and application details.

GET A TREE | DONATE | VOLUNTEER

The #FriendsofTreesWay is planting trees—and so much more!

(503) 282-8846: Portland office

(541) 632-3683: Eugene office

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friendsoftrees.org/eugene

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