5-Millionth Tree Planted In ‘Releaf’ Effort Conservation Group, Communities, Corporations Work To Restore Ecosystems

It took only a few minutes for eight schoolchildren to shovel the dirt around a big-leaf maple that represents the 5-millionth tree planted as part of American Forests’ Global Releaf campaign.

The ceremony at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Provolt Seed Orchard in southern Oregon represents nine years of raising money from corporate sponsors and sending grants to 81 community groups in 34 states to restore environmentally sensitive places with trees.

“The timber industry plants about 3 billion trees a year,” said Deborah Gangloff, executive director of American Forests, a conservation group formed in 1875.

“In that context, 5 million trees sounds like a drop in the bucket,” she said. “But we are going to very unique sites where the loss of trees has damaged an ecosystem, where we can repair that ecosystem by planting native species.”

Global Releaf began by planting jack pine in northern Michigan to restore nesting habitat for warblers. The 1-millionth tree was an acacia koa planted on a federal wildlife refuge dedicated to forest birds on the island of Hawaii.

Most of the projects are on public lands where the government hasn’t had the money to plant trees. Though funded by American Forests, all the projects were developed by local citizens groups, Gangloff said.

Planted by members of the student council at Ruch Elementary School, the 3-year-old big-leaf maple stands 12 feet tall in the front yard of the Provolt Seed Orchard.

It is a symbol of the 16,800 trees planted with a $10,000 grant from American Forests in a joint effort between the BLM and Applegate Partnership, a local citizens group formed in 1992 to promote peace during the battles over the northern spotted owl.

“Historically, everybody worried about replanting due to harvesting,” said Jack Shipley, one of the founders. “One of the things we’re pushing is replanting riparian and flood plain areas.”

Just a couple of hundred yards away on the Applegate River, it is plain to see what the lack of big trees along the bank meant during the New Year’s flood this year. The river washed away big sections of the bank.

For three years, the Applegate Partnership has been gathering seeds and cuttings from cottonwoods, red alders, incense cedars, sugar pine and other native species and turning them over to the BLM to germinate into seedlings, which are given to private landowners and planted by volunteers.

The grant made it possible to reimburse the BLM for work it was doing with volunteer time, Shipley said.

Global Releaf’s biggest corporate sponsor is the Eddie Bauer Co., an outdoor clothing retailer which encourages customers to donate a dollar when they make a purchase, to be used to plant a tree. The company has committed to funding 2.5 million trees. Company brochures extol the virtues of trees in absorbing carbon dioxide and offsetting pollutants.

“Eddie Bauer was built out of the love of the outdoors. We feel strongly that we need to continue that tie with our heritage,” said company spokeswoman Cheryl Engstrom. “Our customers very much appreciate this program. They have been very responsive to it and appreciate a fast, easy way for them to make an impact as well.”

Other sponsors include small-engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton, Sterling Vineyards, Bruce Hardwood Floors and the Switzerland Cheese Association.

American Forests hopes to accelerate the program and fund its 20-millionth tree by 2000.

American Forests chose the Applegate Partnership to recognize the innovative work it is doing to promote cooperation between local groups and the government, said Gerald Gray, vice president of American Forests.