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.