Feb 9th Tree Planting Honors Neighborhood of the 150th

Feb 6, 2008

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

Friends of Trees' planting in the North Garrison Heights, Vancouver Heights, Father Blanchet Park, and Marrion neighborhoods this Saturday, Feb. 9, will include 77 trees planted in Vancouver Heights for its "Neighborhood of the 150th" award for Vancouver's sesquicentennial anniversary in 2007. Nearly ninety trees will be planted in all four neighborhoods. The planting begins at 9 a.m. at the Columbia Presbyterian Church, 805 S Columbia Ridge Dr.

The "Neighborhood of the 150th" contest was sponsored by the City of Vancouver Office of Neighborhoods in partnership with Columbia Credit Union, Friends of Trees, Vancouver's Urban Forestry Program, and The Columbian. All Vancouver neighborhood associations were invited to submit essays for the city's 150th anniversary on the theme "Pride, Progress, Possibilities." Ten finalists were featured in The Columbian, and readers voted on which neighborhood association to declare the "Neighborhood of the 150th." Residents of the neighborhood with the winning neighborhood association will receive 150 trees, up to $1,000 for a neighborhood beautification project, and street signs designating the neighborhood "Neighborhood of the 150th."

Typically tree costs vary by neighborhood, depending on the funds that Friends of Trees has been able to secure to subsidize the actual $175 cost of the tree, tree delivery, hole digging, tree planting assistance, mulching, and follow-up monitoring. With funding provided by the City of Vancouver's Urban Forestry Program, a part of the Vancouver-Clark Parks & Recreation Department, Vancouver homeowners this winter have paid no more than $50 per tree, with homeowners in Vancouver Heights receiving their trees at no cost.

Nobel Laureate Al Gore often points out that planting trees slows climate change. In addition, trees intercept air pollutants and storm water, greatly reducing air and river pollution and saving millions of dollars in storm water 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 350,000 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. As a result of its Vancouver expansion, Friends of Trees will plant twice as many street trees in Vancouver this year as it has in past years. To learn more, visit www.friendsoftrees.org.