Plantings 25 N/NE Portland Neighborhoods

Jan 14, 2008

Contact: Teri Ruch
503-282-8846 ext. 17

Friends of Trees has scheduled community plantings in 25 North and Northeast Portland neighborhoods this winter and spring. Each planting will be on a Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a community potluck lunch at the end of the planting. If you want to help plant trees, please arrive before 9 a.m. to register and be assigned to your team before the planting begins.

Feb. 2 planting in Cathedral Park, Kenton, Arbor Lodge, Portsmouth, St. Johns and University Park: Staging area is St. Johns Bachelor Club, 8204 N Central
Feb. 16 plantings in Overlook, Boise, Humboldt, Eliot, Piedmont and King: Staging area is Friends of Trees, 3117 NE ML King Jr Blvd
Feb. 23 plantings in Woodlawn, Alameda, Concordia, Vernon and Beaumont-Wilshire: Staging area is Redeemer Lutheran Church, 5431 NE 20th Ave
March 1 plantings in Wilkes, Russell, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights and Argay: Staging area to be posted at "volunteer at friendsoftrees.org.
March 8 planting in Roseway, Cully and Rose City Park: Staging area to be posted at "volunteer" at friendsoftrees.org

In addition to receiving support from Portland Parks & Recreation, the Feb. 2 planting is sponsored by Portland General Electric with the St Johns neighborhood sponsored by Toyota Logistics Services. The Feb. 16 planting is sponsored by Adidas, the Feb. 23 planting is sponsored by Umpqua Bank, and the March 1 planting is sponsored by IKEA.

Nobel Laureate Al Gore often points out that planting trees slows climate change. In addition, according to a city of Portland study released in October, Portland's trees intercept 25 million pounds of air pollutants and half a billion gallons of stormwater a year, greatly reducing river pollution and saving the city millions of dollars in stormwater management costs.

Friends of Trees brings people in the Portland-Vancouver area together to plant and care for city trees and urban natural areas. Since 1989, the more than 340,000 trees and shrubs that Friends of Trees has planted in the Portland-metro area have provided increasing benefits as they grow, cleaning more of our water and air and slowing climate change more each year. Portland's increased tree cover, called "the Portland effect," led to national recognition for Friends of Trees and the city of Portland last year. To learn more, visit www.friendsoftrees.org.