Gresham Woods Restoration Party Draws Community Together

Feb 7, 2008

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

Despite rain, mud and snow, Friends of Trees led a successful restoration planting on February 2 in Gresham Woods. The planting was sponsored by Becker Capital Management and was planned in partnership with the city of Gresham, the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, and the Johnson Creek Watershed Council, with support from the Oregon Soap Company.

About 40 community volunteers planted 600 native shrubs around the perimeter of seasonal ponds, which Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services created about 30 yards from the Springwater Corridor.

"The energetic volunteers made this another great planting," said Friends of Trees Natural Area Restoration Specialist Rudy Dietz.

The planting was part of Friends of Trees’ Natural Area Restoration program, which works to rehabilitate urban natural areas in the four-county Portland-metro area with native trees and plants.

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 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 350,000 trees and native plants 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. To learn more, visit www.friendsoftrees.org.