Tree Trust celebrates 35 years

Thirty-five years ago Donald Willeke and G. Rolf Svendsen had two dreams: to reforest the Twin Cities after the devastation caused by Dutch elm disease, and to give training and jobs to the many youth and young adults who were out of work. And so began the Twin Cities Tree Trust (now Tree Trust).

That first year we established tree nurseries in Plymouth, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove and Eagan, and we put 1,450 people to work on improvement projects throughout the metro area. They replaced diseased elm trees with healthy, new trees. They built boardwalks, maintained trails, and made our parks and recreation areas more beautiful and accessible.

Over the next fifteen years Tree Trust continued to combine job training with community forestry work, making lasting environmental improvements and helping thousands of disadvantaged youth and adults reshape their lives.

In 1992 we added our Learning with Trees environmental education program, and over the next ten years received national awards for our environmental and job training efforts.

Tree Trust expanded rapidly at the start of the new millennium. We added the Community Support Program in 2000. We dropped the “Twin Cities” from our name in 2003 and officially became Tree Trust. In 2004 we took a proactive approach to creating a more financially sound future by launching Landscape Services, our earned income venture. And over the next six years we adopted a new agency logo, added more programs (YouthBuild and Youth Development Services), expanded our existing programs, and involved significantly more volunteers in our community work.

In 2011, as we celebrate 35 years of service to the Twin Cities, we are bringing our programs and services that currently operate out of four separate locations into one building. We are so proud of what we’ve done in 35 years, and look forward to what we’ll accomplish – with the help of the community – over the next 35 years.

Watch a timeline of our 35 years.

Tree Trust youth featured in Minnesota Youth Program report

The MN Department of Employment and Economic Development – Minnesota Youth Program has supported our Youth Conservation Corps program for many years. The 2010 Minnesota Youth Program report was recently published and features many Tree Trust youth success stories. You’ll find these profiles on pages 21 – 24, 29 and 34. Click here to read the report. 

Tree Trust is moving!

Tree Trust is excited to announce its move to a new facility! Currently, Tree Trust operates out of four facilities located throughout the metro, in St. Paul, St. Louis Park, Minneapolis and Eagan. By combining these facilities into one location Tree Trust will be saving time, money and energy.

The new Tree Trust facility will be located at 2231 Edgewood Avenue South, in Saint Louis Park. This facility will fulfill the needs of Tree Trust with pleasant office space, great training room, large garage/warehouse space and ample outdoor secured space.

Tree Trust will begin its move the first week of January. We apologize in advance for any difficulties reaching our staff during this time and thank you for your understanding and patience.

Give to the Max Day is a success!

The Give to the Max Day results are in... on November 16, Tree Trust raised $15,690 through GiveMN.org. Thank you to the 94 donors that participated in Give to the Max Day. Together these donors have helped us make positive, lasting changes in the community.

Did you miss out on Give to the Max Day, but still wish to make a donation? It’s not too late to make your tax-deductible gift for 2010, just click here to make your donation online or mail your check to Tree Trust at 2350 Wycliff St., Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55114-1331.

For more questions about giving a donation, contact Tracie Huhn at tracieh@treetrust.org or 651-644-5800.

Give to the Max Day returns!

It’s back! Give to the Max Day is returning again this year. Give to the Max Day is a day for Minnesotans to come together to raise as much money as possible for nonprofits in 24 hours – starting at midnight (12am) on November 16.

This year, GiveMN is offering incentives to help encourage giving:

• A $20,000 and $10,000 prize grant will be awarded to the top two nonprofits that attract the largest number of individual donors on Give to the Max Day.
• Throughout the event, an individual donor will be randomly chosen every hour to have an additional $1,000 given to the charity that received the donor's original donation.

In addition to GiveMN’s incentives, Tree Trust’s CEO and Board of Directors have offered a dollar-for-dollar match up to $7,500 for donations to Tree Trust on Give to the Max Day!

Last year on Give to the Max Day, Tree Trust was thrilled to receive more than $14,000 in donations.

This year we aim to raise more than we did last year. Will you help us reach our goal on November 16? Click here to visit Tree Trust's GiveMN page to make a donation.

Life after summer

We often refer to the summer as our busy time of year; and no doubt it is a busy time for Tree Trust. But for many Tree Trust programs, fall marks the time when we take a deep breath and get ready for what we’re about to take on during the school year.

Community Forestry
Community Forestry has always been a part of Tree Trust, and over the years we’ve given people easy ways to improve the local environment and become more enlightened about their own ability to make a (green) difference.

This fall the Community Forestry Manager, Karen, is busy facilitating our fall planting events (five this year!), working with three Learning with Trees schools, and gearing up for what we expect will be another busy spring community planting season. “It’s always nice to think about how many people we’ve educated and involved, and the difference it makes for everyone,” says Karen.

Green Futures for Inver Grove Heights

On Saturday, October 16, Tree Trust gave 46 community volunteers the tools and training they needed to plant 80 trees in Inver Grove Height’s Rich Valley Athletic Complex as part of Tree Trust’s Green Futures initiative. Mayor George Tourville was present to thank volunteers and educate attendees about Inver Grove Heights’ forestry efforts.

Rich Valley Athletic Complex, a 75-acre park, serves as a major sports complex for Inver Grove Height’s 30,000 residents. Of the park's 700 trees, 100 are ash trees that are threatened by the recent arrival of emerald ash borer to the Twin Cities metro area. This planting pre-forested the park and prevented the loss of shade, wind breaks and other benefits trees bring to the park. Trees planted included Kentucky coffee, hackberry, gingko, red maple and more.

View photos from the planting on Flickr.

Local businesses help schools in 2010-2011

Generous grants from the Xcel Energy Foundation and Covanta Energy will allow two schools to participate in Tree Trust’s Learning with Trees program during the 2010-2011 school year.

This fall/winter Somerset Elementary School (Mendota Heights, MN) and Nellie Stone Johnson Community School (Minneapolis, MN) will work with Community Forestry Manager Karen Zumach to form green teams of teachers, parents and school administrators. Over the course of the next several months the green teams will identify ways to transform their existing grounds into living laboratories that provide hands-on learning experiences for their students, and also provide natural environmental benefits to the local community.

In the spring each school will participate in Tree Trust’s interactive Our Town Trees exhibit, where students will learn about the benefits of trees and build a conceptual framework for the students’ planting experience at all-school events that will occur near the end of the school year. During the events, Tree Trust’s trained volunteers will lead groups of students through the entire process of planting trees. The students will be assigned various roles - digger, planter, mulcher, waterer - and make each green teams’ landscape plans a reality.

Teachers from each school will also be provided with a “tree trunk” of lesson plans and tools to use with students to incorporate environmental education both inside the classroom and in their new outdoor learning area.

Thanks to our sponsors – Xcel Energy Foundation and Covanta Energy- for helping us bring Learning with Trees to two new schools!

Beautifying north Minneapolis

More than 40 volunteers came together to beautify their corner of north Minneapolis on Tuesday and Wednesday Oct. 12 – 13. These volunteers planted more than 430 shrubs and perennials along the new parking lot of St. Anne’s and St. Joseph Hien church. Twenty school children from Bright Water Montessori School also gave a hand by planting wild grasses and watering freshly planted trees and plants.

What was once a row of run-down, crime-infested homes, is now a newly-beautified parking lot that will serve the parishioners of St. Anne’s and St. Joseph Hien for years to come. Thanks to the Pohlad Family Foundation for helping to fund this project.

View more photos from the planting.

Tree Trust and Xcel Energy Foundation improve Burnsville park

On Saturday, Oct. 9, Tree Trust gave 20 community volunteers the tools and training they needed to plant 38 trees in Burnsville’s Rudy Kraemer Nature Preserve. Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz attended the planting to support volunteers and teach them about the Rudy Kraemer Nature Preserve.

Rudy Kraemer Nature Preserve is a 75-acre park that offers a walking trail for Burnsville’s 60,000 residents. It had been a goal of the city’s to line the walking path with trees and thanks to a grant from the Xcel Energy Foundation the goal was finally realized. The grant from the Xcel Energy Foundation was awarded to Tree Trust’s Community Forestry program. Trees planted included Swamp White Oak, disease resistant elm, River Birch, hackberry and Bur Oak.

View photos from this planting on Flickr.

Revitalizing Anoka County’s Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park

On Saturday, September 25, Tree Trust gave 20 community volunteers the tools and training they needed to plant 30 trees in Anoka County’s Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park.

Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park is one of Anoka County’s most popular parks, offering year-round recreation activities. Like others throughout Minnesota, this 446-acre park has lost a number of trees over the years to Dutch elm disease.

Thanks to a $5,000 grant from Connexus Energy that was awarded to Tree Trust’s Community Forestry program, the community planting event on September 25 helped replace lost trees and revitalize the park. Trees planted in Anoka County’s Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park included hackberry, bur oak, American basswood, Kentucky coffee and autumn blaze maple.

Learning with Trees

Last Friday, more than 620 students helped to plant 25 trees and shrubs, plant 100 bulbs and beautify the gardens at Meadowbrook Elementary through the Learning with Trees program. CenterPoint Energy funded this planting and its employees took an active role helping Meadowbrook Elementary students improve their natural environment.

“We are proud of our long standing partnership with Tree Trust,” said Doug Peterson, director of marketing for CenterPoint Energy and Tree Trust board member. “We are pleased that Meadowbrook Elementary has a new and beautiful outdoor landscape for students and teachers to enjoy while improving our communities’ natural environment.”

Joelle, a member of the Green Team at Meadowbrook Elementary wrote:
“Tree Trust is such an impressive machine with this program -- what an opportunity to have every single kid in the school having a part in planting a tree.

I heard lots of wonderful comments from students (e.g. the 2nd grader who promised he'd take good care of "Hacky" -- what they named the hackberry tree they planted, the 3rd grader who talked about bringing his parents back to see his tree, etc.), the parents who couldn't believe all wonderful varieties that we planted today. We all learned lots from the knowledgeable Tree Trust staff and volunteers!"

 Thank you to the CenterPoint Energy and Tree Trust volunteers who helped make this happen!

Tree Trust's first commercial

This month Tree Trust shot its very first commercial -- well, really its a public service announcement (PSA), but calling it a commercial is a lot more fun! 

You can view our new PSA on YouTube and Vimeo. It will also air periodically on CTV15 and its sister stations. 

Thanks to the generosity of CTV15, who provided consultation and production as an in-kind donation to Tree Trust, we now have our 30 seconds of fame. 

Special thanks to Kevin Schmitz from CTV15, who worked patiently with us over the past few months to get it just right. And extra special thanks to our cast -- Felecia, Kyler, Sam, Giampaolo and Kristine -- for  lending us their time and talent on the set.

Let us know what you think. And feel free to share it with others!

Tree Trust teams up with St. Louis Park

Tree Trust has partnered with the City of St. Louis Park since our inception. But now we’re taking our relationship to a whole new level.

We’ve partnered with the City to add 2,000 well-established trees to St. Louis Park over the next four years. The St. Louis Park Reforest Project is part of an overall effort to reforest the city after the loss of trees to Dutch elm disease, and to pre-forest the city before emerald ash borer wipes out many more.

Our three-pronged approach involves:

1. Tree distributions. Each year Tree Trust will sell trees at a low cost to St. Louis Park residents. They’ll learn how to properly plant and maintain them in their own yards.

2. Community tree plantings. Tree Trust will facilitate an annual planting event in a city park. Residents will help plant trees and the city will take care of them. Trees will be paid for by donations from St. Louis Park citizens that are matched by the City of St. Louis Park!

3. Youth crew plantings. The City of St. Louis Park will hire our youth crews to plant trees in public spaces throughout the city. That sure beats busting buckthorn!

Kick-off Fundraiser

On September 19, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, the Park Tavern Bowling and Entertainment Center will host an event to celebrate 30 years in St. Louis Park. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Tree Trust in support of the Reforest Project.

You are invited! Have a good time and support a great cause. More details about the event will be available soon. Contact Tracie at tracieh@treetrust.org with questions.

UPDATE: The Park Tavern’s 30th Anniversary Celebration (and the City of St. Louis Park’s match) raised $3,850 for our St. Louis Park Reforest Project! What a great start for this special partnership!
Thanks to all who came out support the cause.

To Plant a Tree

This insightful poem was written by one of our wonderful volunteers, Jim Nelson. He shared this with a group of tree planting volunteers during our special “Plant a Wish” event along the Midtown Greenway on June 2, 2010.

Jim is a Master Gardener, Tree Care Advisor, Tree Inspector, and friend of Tree Trust. With Jim’s permission, we share this with the rest of you.

To Plant a Tree

To plant a tree is to begin a project
that may outlive me and my children.

To plant a tree is to make a small part of the earth
a new and better place.

To plant a tree whose crown may never shade me
is to care for neighbors and others.

To plant a tree is to give color and form
to dreams of a better world for all.

New CEO for Tree Trust

Tree Trust’s board of directors has been engaged in a search for a chief executive officer since February, following the passing of Dave Hawes. Although we wish it were under different circumstances, we are pleased to announce that today, Susan Gethin joins us.

Meet Susan…

After a long career in the corporate world, Susan wanted to contribute more directly to the community by focusing her skills and talents in the nonprofit arena.

Susan spent the past five years as V.P of Corporate Communications for Ameriprise Financial, Inc. Prior to that she was V.P. of U.S. Retail Communications for American Express Financial Advisors, and she put her B.A. in Political Science to work in the world of politics.

With her passion for the environment and expertise in communications, leadership, strategic planning and executive management, Tree Trust is a perfect fit.

Welcome Susan!

Twin Cities recognized for volunteerism

The Twin Cities has a lot to be proud of. We’re famous for our abundance of lakes. I’m pretty sure no other state makes as mean a hot dish as we do. We were recently named the Best Bike City by Bicycling magazine. And last month Minneapolis and St. Paul were ranked among the top five large cities in the U.S. for volunteering rates!

The most recent Volunteering in America report issued by the Corporation for National & Community Service shows that volunteering is on the rise throughout the nation. This is great news! In 2009 more than 63 million Americans volunteered – that’s an increase of almost 1.6 million over the previous year. Their volunteer service was valued at more than $169 billion, resulting in huge savings for nonprofits.

In 2009, over 500 volunteers joined Tree Trust to plant trees, maintain trails and make our community greener. This year, even more people are getting involved.

Want to join the millions of Americans who give back to their communities? Find out how you can make a difference by volunteering with Tree Trust!

Jobs for teens

This year Tree Trust received over 2,200 applications from qualified, eligible young people for the 900 jobs available through our Youth Conservation Corps summer employment training program. A tough economy has led to a consistent increase in requests for this program in recent years.

Northwest Community Television (Channel 12) was pretty impressed with how Tree Trust has remained a consistent source of paid job training for Twin Cities youth for nearly 35 years, and they recently visited one of our crews, located at French Regional Park in Plymouth, to learn more about us.

Check out the story that aired on July 20, 2010 on their Local News/Community Corner.

Tree Trust crews throughout the Twin Cities

Tree Trust’s Youth Conservation Corps completes its fourth week today – they’re nearly ½ of the way through this summer’s program! Check out these photos that highlight what some of our outdoor crews are doing in your neck of the woods.

If there’s a Tree Trust crew in your area, stop by, see what they’re up to, and thank them for their hard work! We currently have crews working in:

Minneapolis
Theodore Wirth Golf Course
Trail near 37th and University
Midtown Greenway

St. Paul
Crosby Farm Park
Phalen Recreation Center

Suburban Carver County
Lake Minnewashta Regional Park
Lake Minnetonka Regional Park

Suburban Dakota County
C.P. Adams Park
Orchard Lake Beach
Scott Park
North Valley Park
Suburban Hennepin County
Brookview Golf Course
Westwood Hills Nature Center
Clifton E. French Regional Park
Brooklyn Center Arboretum/Kylawn Park
Brooklyn Center City Hall
Minnetonka Ice Arena
Rosland Park
Richardson Nature Center
Plymouth Creek Park
Elm Creek Park Reserve
Richard T. Anderson Nature Area
LRT Trail near Guillian’s Park

Suburban Washington County
Carver Lake Park
Lamar Fields
Hamlet Park
Square Lake Regional Park

Youth hard at work in May Township, MN

Last month we announced the start of our 2010 summer Youth Conservation Corps program. Nearly 900 youth are hard at work in the Twin Cities. Many of them are working outside - rain or shine - to improve the parks and recreation areas we love to visit when Mother Nature permits.

And local media are taking notice! Check out what the Stillwater Gazette - St. Croix Valley Local News had to say on June 21 and again on June 29 about our crew in Square Lake Regional Park , located in May Township, MN (Washington County). These young people are really making a difference!

Launching the 2010 Youth Conservation Corps

June 14, 2010 marked the official start of Tree Trust's Youth Conservation Corps, an employment training program that puts youth to work for nine weeks, June through August. We're proud to say that this summer we'll provide paid jobs and training to approximately 900 young people, many of whom may have otherwise spent the summer on the couch or at their computer desk (or worse).

First jobs can be a major challenge. When we asked you about your first job (through a survey in our last newsletter), the only aspects everyone reported liking or loving were location and co-workers. Less popular aspects? Pay (too low!), boss, and rules.  Rules can certainly be tricky, especially when you don't know what to expect.

Luckily, we've designed our Youth Conservation Corps program to provide a supportive but realistic work environment that allows for second chances and encourages growth.  By the end of the summer, the job trainees not only know what it means to be good workers, but they also know how to show their employer that they are good workers. Like by coming in on time, completing tasks in an efficient way, helping their co-workers, working well as a team, and showing initiative.

The youth aren't the only ones who benefit from the program; the entire community benefits. Our public spaces get sturdy new retaining walls. Our parks get safer access up and down hillsides in the form of well-made, attractive staircases. Our community-serving organizations, like schools and libraries, get an extra set of hands for data entry and filing. (Those are a just a couple of examples of the dozens and dozens of projects our job trainees will complete this summer.) And we community members get to enjoy all these great amenities and services.

Green Futures spring planting season a success!

On June 5, Tree Trust wrapped up a successful spring of Green Futures plantings. St. Paul received 60 new, properly planted trees in Cherokee Park, where a large percentage of the mature trees are ash and will likely succumb to emerald ash borer - a destructive, wood-boring beetle - in the not-too-distant future. And Minnetrista will reap the benefits of 120 new trees in the City's brand new and no-longer-barren Lisle Park.

This year, our spring Green Futures plantings were especially meaningful for Tree Trust. Our dear friend and CEO, Dave Hawes, passed away in February after a battle with cancer, and the majority of the trees we planted in Minnetrista and St. Paul were donated in his memory. Many of his family were there to help plant the trees; his daughter even shared some memories of her father's life-long commitment to forestry and to Tree Trust. We're proud to have been able to honor him in this special, meaningful way.

Our thanks to recent funders

Tree Trust thanks our most recent funders for their support:

Allina Health Systems
American Legion Post 424 - Inver Grove Heights
The Bloomington Community Foundation
Bloomington Lions Club
CenterPoint Energy
Connexus Energy
East Central Energy
Ecolab Foundation
Fiber Artisans Guild
Lillian Wright & C. Emil Berglund Foundation
The McKnight Foundation
OptumHealth
The Pentair Foundation
Quadion Foundation
RBC Foundation - USA
Rosemount Lions Club
City of Rosemount - SKB Environmental Trust Fund
Target Foundation
TruStone Financial

Thank you for supporting our programs!

Green Futures for Cherokee Park!

50 volunteers got together on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at St. Paul's Cherokee Park to plant 60 trees as part of Tree Trust's Green Futures initiative.

A little light drizzle didn't spoil a thing: families, couples, and individuals worked together to get trees in the ground the right way. These new trees are off to a great start, ready to take the place of the mighty ash trees when they succumb to emerald ash borer.

This event was especially meaningful for Tree Trust because all the trees were planted in memory of our CEO, David Hawes, who passed away in February after a battle with cancer. Dave's family joined other volunteers to plant in honor of his lifelong love of trees and commitment to transforming lives and landscapes during his 30+ years at Tree Trust.

Thanks so much to:

• The volunteers and donors who made this event possible
• Our trusty trainers for teaching everyone how to plant correctly
• The City of St. Paul for applying for a Green Futures grant and working to get more trees in the parks
• Amore Coffee for donating the coffee 
• Mississippi Market for donating a gift card to buy snacks for our volunteers
• Our Landscape Services team for providing event support
• Our Community Forestry Manager, Karen Zumach, for creating the landscape plan and facilitating the event

This is the last Green Futures planting for the spring, but we're currently accepting donations for plantings in the fall. If someone has a birthday coming up, a new baby is coming into the world, a friend is getting married or having an anniversary, or someone close to you just really loves trees, think about making a donation in their honor!

Check out more photos from the event in this Flickr set.

Press Release: Green Futures for Minnetrista's Lisle Park

For immediate release: Green Futures for Minnetrista's Lisle Park

Minnetrista, MN - June 4, 2010 - On Saturday, May 22, 2010, Tree Trust staff gathered over 70 community volunteers to plant 120 trees in Minnetrista's Lisle Park as part of Tree Trust's Green Futures initiative. Severe weather rolled in halfway through the event and curtailed the planting, but Tree Trust's Young Adult Conservation Corps finished the job the following Monday.

The planting began with a brief program recognizing the donations to Tree Trust's Green Futures initiative that made the event possible. Many trees were donated in memory of Tree Trust's CEO David Hawes, who passed away in February after a battle with cancer, and his family said a few words about his life-long commitment to Tree Trust and passion for trees.

A workshop followed to teach all volunteers how to plant trees the right way. Trees planted included red maple, Japanese tree lilac, red splendor crabapple, hackberry, basswood, thornless honey locust, black hills spruce and quaking aspen.

After about half the trees were planted, flickers of lightning appeared in the distance and rain started to fall. Many volunteers took shelter in their vehicles to wait out the unsafe weather, but the storm refused to pass. On Monday, a crew of Tree Trust Young Adult Conservation Corps job-trainees worked at the park to plant the remaining trees.

Lisle Park, a 15.5-acre city park on the south side of the Hunters Crest neighborhood, was chosen as a Green Futures planting site through a competitive proposal process. The City of Minnetrista submitted an application to Tree Trust that demonstrated the financial and environmental need for trees in Lisle Park and the City's commitment to ensuring the trees' long-term survival.

This Tree Trust - Green Futures planting was made possible by individual donations, a matching grant from a local family foundation, and a contribution from Cargill, Inc. - BiOH ®polyols division. For additional information or to get involved with Tree Trust's Green Futures, contact Tracie Huhn, Director of Development and Marketing, at tracieh@treetrust.org or 651-644-5800.


Tree Trust is a Minnesota 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1976 to provide out-of-work individuals with training and paid jobs reforesting the community. They have since expanded to provide integrated employment training, environmental education and community forestry programs to youth and adults in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.

The City of Minnetrista is located on the western bays of Lake Minnetonka and the agricultural rich plains and idyllic woodlands of southwestern Hennepin County. The name Minnetrista is derived from the Native American word "minne" meaning waters, and "trista" meaning crooked. The 32 square miles is home to 6,234 residents who enjoy the rural residential and lakeside settings. Whether you're just passing through, or spending some time at one of the enchanting area parks, you will be welcomed in Minnetrista!

Plant A Wish and some trees June 2

We hope you'll join us on June 2 at 5:00 PM to plant a wish along with 15-20 native trees on the Midtown Greenway, just east of Hiawatha Ave. and the Martin Olav Sabo bridge (near the intersection of Minnehaha Ave. & E. 29th St.). While we're planting, the lovely folks from Plant A Wish will film us for their nation-wide tree-planting documentary film project.

We are looking for at least 100 people to join us for this special event. Adults, kids, families and groups are welcome. Everyone is welcome to plant a wish; you'll write your wish on a bit of brown grocery bag and put it in the ground with a tree when it's being planted.

We have a limited number of spots (40-50) available for people who want to actually plant the trees, so please respond quickly if you're hoping to do the dirty work.

And we could especially use the help of our Tree Trainers. If you've taken our Tree Training in the last few years and are available to lead and supervise volunteers at this special event, please let us know.

Please RSVP to tracieh@treetrust.org and let us know if you are interested in planting, wishing or both!*

Check out the press release for this event to learn more about the partnership. You can also check out Plant A Wish on Facebook (and check out Tree Trust, too, while you're at it) and at their website.

*This event will be filmed. Attendees may appear in the documentary and promotional materials.

HealthPartners goes green

HealthPartners has teamed up with Tree Trust to reduce clutter and save trees. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22, 2010), they are asking HealthPartners members to switch from having their explanation of benefits (EOBs) sent through snail mail to receiving them through secure online delivery.

If at least 1,000 members sign up between April 22 and May 22, HealthPartners will sponsor the planting of 20 trees at one of our Green Futures planting events this fall.

EOBs stay in your secure, online HealthPartners  account for as long as you have coverage with HealthPartners. So if you sign up today and get an online EOB tomorrow, you'll still be able to view that EOB five years from now, or whenever you choose, as long as you're with HealthPartners.

Are you still receiving your stuff the old fashioned way? Think of all the trees we could save (and plant) if every HealthPartners member signed up to go paperless this month. Do your part to end the paper pileup by logging into your online HealthPartners account and making the switch today.

Haven't created your online account yet? Go to healthpartners.com/gopaperless to sign up.

Weeding Wednesdays - pull weeds to save trees along the Midtown Greenway

While our Young Adult Conservation Corps crews work hard to mow the grass and water the trees along the Midtown Greenway, we need more hands to dig in and pull the massive weeds that bully the trees by stealing their nutrients and their lunch money.

That's where you come in. You can help us get a handle on the weeds along the Greenway by volunteering to pull them out of the ground on Wednesday evenings from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. We'll be at different locations each Wednesday, so keep an eye on our schedule of upcoming events to find out where you can join us. Or, if you'd rather look at a map than a calendar, you can take a look at our Google map of Weeding Wednesdays.

When you find a Weeding Wednesday you'd like to join, just email jessicas@treetrust.org or call Jessica at 651-644-5800 to sign up.

Learning with Trees: Local businesses support environmental education

With the continued support of East Central Energy and CenterPoint Energy, and a new grant from Cargill Inc., Tree Trust has been able to bring our Learning with Trees program to three Minnesota schools during the 2009-2010 school year.

During the month of April, students in each of these schools will participate in the interactive Our Town Trees exhibit, an environmental learning opportunity that includes five modules such as "Trees Are Cool" and "Trees Clean Our Water," that teach the benefits of trees to build a conceptual framework for the students' hands-on planting experience that will occur later in the school year.

Green teams made up of teachers, principals, maintenance workers and parents from each school have been hard at work with our school coordinators to develop a new landscape plan for their schools' grounds. The goal for each school's green team:  to transform their playgrounds into living laboratories that provide continued opportunities for outdoor learning.

Welcoming our new Tree Trainers

With the help of two veteran volunteers, Tree Trust staff initiated a new group of 11 volunteers into the ranks of Tree Trainers this past Saturday. These dedicated volunteers learned the ins and outs of proper tree-planting, from digging down to the root flare and waking up the roots to mulching donut-style (not volcano-style). Then they got some hands-on practice leading each other through the process and planting 14 trees along the Midtown Greenway just east of Hiawatha in Minneapolis.

These and other Tree Trainers will be on hand at our planting events throughout the year to supervise volunteers and make sure everything gets in the ground correctly. That means that when you volunteer at one of our plantings, you leave behind a bunch of trees that are off to a great start in life, and you take with you the knowledge to plant trees correctly in the future.

You can learn more about planting trees correctly from our flier, aptly titled "Plant a Tree the Right Way." And we hope you'll join us at one of our events this spring, like our Green Futures planting at Lisle Park in Minnetrista, where we'll be planting 120 trees the right way. See all of our upcoming events and register for something today!

Check out more photos of the event on Flickr.

Celebrate Earth Day's birthday with trees for the Twin Cities

April 22, 2010 will be the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, started in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as a grassroots movement to raise awareness about the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been working on separate environmental issues - from pollution and oil spills to the extinction of wildlife - came together around a common cause and began the modern environmental movement.

In celebration of Earth Day's birthday, we hope you'll come together around our common environmental cause: trees for the Twin Cities. Whether you volunteer, donate, or spread the word, your support makes our community that much greener.

Here's what we're doing to help the environment this spring, along with tips for how you can help.

Season Two: Twin Cities urban forest versus the Emerald Ash Borer

Tree Trust's very own Community Forestry Manager, Karen Zumach, wrote a great article for The Twin Cities Daily Planet about emerald ash borer in the Twin Cities. She offers some great tips for what we can do to prevent the spread of this invasive insect (hint: one tip involves firewood and, you know, not moving it!). Read the article to learn more.

Despite our best efforts to contain the pest, the fact remains that trees will be lost. You can help us reduce the impact of EAB by planting tomorrow's trees today. Check out our Green Futures page to learn more.

What's great about volunteering with Tree Trust?

In December 2009, Tree Trust asked individuals who volunteered in 2009 to share thoughts about their experience by participating in a brief, nine-question survey. Read our short report to find out what people like best about volunteering with Tree Trust.

Dave Hawes

Thirty-two years ago Dave Hawes was a young forester excitedly starting his first day with Tree Trust. The work was harder than he thought it would be. The kids he was teaching to plant trees and build bridges sometimes seemed more interested in socializing than working. Many of his projects were deep in the woods and he and his crew would spend as much time swatting mosquitoes as they did busting buckthorn. Other times their project would be right on schedule and Mother Nature would throw a wrench in their plan.

But he was happy. He was doing two of the things he loved most – making the Twin Cities a little greener and helping people make their lives a little better. And for the next 32 years Dave dedicated himself to Tree Trust and continued to do just that.

In his time with us Dave moved from leading crews of young people to managing the agency’s expanding operations and creating our for-profit venture, Landscape Services, in order to help sustain Tree Trust in future years.

In 2007, Dave became our Chief Executive Officer. Blending his respect for the history of Tree Trust with his passion for new ideas, the agency’s programming continued to grow. And in 2008 he launched our Green Futures initiative and paved the way for Tree Trust to play an even bigger role in improving lives and landscapes throughout the Twin Cities.

Over the years Dave could have explored other career opportunities that might have provided him with a more consistent schedule, more notoriety and perhaps even more money. But, he was one of those rare people who actually loved going to work each day. Dave truly loved Tree Trust.

Earlier this year our dear friend passed away after a brave eight-month battle with cancer.

While Dave’s formal education was in forestry, we will remember him for his heart and passion for people. We are forever grateful for what he’s done for Tree Trust and the community, and we miss him dearly.

Thank you to our recent funders!

Tree Trust recently received grant funding for our 2010 programs from a number of corporations and foundations, including:

Baker Foundation
Cargill
CenterPoint Energy
East Central Energy
Nash Foundation
Private Bank of Minnesota
Smikis Foundation
Tennant Foundation

Thank you for your support!

Minneapolis City Trees - residents can buy a tree for $25

The City of Minneapolis has partnered with Tree Trust for the fifth year in a row to offer its residents trees at a low cost - just $25 for a six- to ten-foot tall tree.

Varieties available this year are:

• Blue Beech
• Burgundy Belle Maple
• Choke Cherry 'Canada Select'
• Fat Albert Spruce
• Kentucky Coffeetree
• Merrill Magnolia
• Oak 'Regal Prince'
• Redmond Linden
• Pagoda Dogwood

Quantities are limited, and residents must order by Friday, April 16, 2010.

Residents who purchase trees will pick them up at the Minneapolis Impound Lot at 51 Colfax Ave. N. on Saturday, May 8 (7:00 AM to 3:00 PM), Sunday, May 9 (8:00 AM to 12:00 PM), or Monday, May 10 (3:00 PM to 7:00 PM). 

A new addition to this year's program is the opportunity to make a donation towards planting more trees in Minneapolis. 

Limited number of trees still available for St. Louis Park residents

There are still a limited number of trees available to St. Louis Park residents for $35 each as part of our second annual St. Louis Park Tree Sale. If you live in St. Louis Park, this sale is a great opportunity to add some green to your yard and improve the environmental health of your entire community.

To learn more and order a tree, visit http://www.treetrust.org/orderhere/index.html. Act quickly to get a tree or two for yourself before they're all spoken for!

2010 Youth Conservation Corps now accepting applications

We are now accepting applications for our Youth Conservation Corps, a nine-week summer youth employment training program that puts youth to work in our communities. Dakota and suburban Hennepin County residents can download this application, and Washington County residents can download this one.

This program is very popular and fills up quickly, so apply early for the best chance of getting a job this summer.

Edit 5/28/2010: The Youth Conservation Corps program is full for 2010, and we are no longer accepting applications.

Youth Conservation Corps job offers will be made the first week of June. All applicants will receive one of the following letters by mail; a job offer letter or a waiting list letter. Applicants will need to respond to their job offer by the deadline indicated in the letter or the offer will be retracted. For those on the waiting list, we will contact you by telephone if a position comes available after the program begins.

Emerald ash borer in Minneapolis

It was only a matter of time before the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle that has the potential to wipe out all of Minnesota's ash trees, would cross the border from St. Paul into Minneapolis. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture confirmed yesterday that the pest had indeed been found in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, a mile or so from the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul where it was spotted last year.

Tree Trust's administrative office is just minutes away from these sites of infestation, and the impending possibility of losing all 200,000 of the Twin Cities' ash trees echoes the crisis that sparked the creation of our organization: the devastation caused by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s. Tree Trust's founders responded to that crisis by training and paying un- and under-employed individuals to reforest our communities.

Today, our Green Futures initiative is poised to respond to the threat of emerald ash borer by getting new trees in the ground before the pest destroys the Twin Cities' ash trees. You can help us plant tomorrow's trees today with a donation to Green Futures, and your money will go even further thanks to a dollar-for-dollar match from a local family foundation that helped us launch the initiative.

Please remember: don't transport firewood! Buy it where you burn it to help slow the spread of emerald ash borer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/benimoto/ / CC BY 2.0

St. Louis Park residents can buy trees for $35

The City of St. Louis Park has partnered with us for the second year in a row to offer 200 trees to its residents at $35 each. Do your part to re-leaf the city by planting one of these lovely trees this spring!

Varieties available are:

• Sugar Maple ‘Fall Fiesta’ 
• Black Hills Spruce 
• Red Splendor Crabapple
• White Oak
• Quaking Aspen
• River Birch

We'll accept orders through March 12, and the pick-up will be at the St. Louis Park Municipal Service Center (7305 Oxford St.) on Saturday, May 1, 2010 between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM.

If you live in St. Louis Park, you can order a tree (or two) online at www.treetrust.org/orderhere. If you need a paper order form, you can get one at one of these places:

• Nature Center, 8300 W. Franklin
• City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd.
• Rec Center, 3700 Monterey Dr.

Trees are in size 10 containers and will be 6 to 10 feet tall.

The City of St. Louis Park will host a tree workshop on March 30, 2010 at 7:00 PM at City Hall (5005 Minnetonka Blvd.). Residents who participate in the St. Louis Park Tree Sale are encouraged to attend and learn how to properly plant and care for their new trees.

Green New Year's Resolutions

Be green in the new year! Here are some ideas to add to your New Year's resolutions:

Plant a tree (or two, or three...). Join Tree Trust at one of our community forestry events in the spring! Or plant a tree in your own yard. Just be sure you know how to plant a tree the right way.

Shop locally at co-op groceries and farmers markets. Locally produced food requires much less time and energy to transport, so your food is fresher and your money isn't buying fuel for transcontinental shipping. Plus, your local choice supports growers in your own community. Find a farmers market near you.

Grow your own food. Even better than buying locally is connecting with your own food in your own backyard. Don't have a yard? Tomatoes, peppers, and herbs do well in pots on your patio. Don't have a patio? Seek out a community garden to connect with and learn from your green-thumbed neighbors.

Contribute to our Green Futures fund. Your donation will be doubled by a dollar-for-dollar match from a local foundation, and every $150 reached in the fund plants a six- to ten-foot tall tree in a Twin Cities park or recreation area. You can even help plant your tree! Learn more about Green Futures.

We wish you a very happy new year, and we hope you'll make 2010 great and green.