| Governor Kulongoski helped kick off Oregon tree plantings |
 |
|
 |
|
|
Gov. Ted Kulongoski, First Lady Mary Oberst, Oregon 150 Commissioner Jack McGowan, and State Forester Marvin Brown, with help from children in the surrounding crowd, planted the ceremonial first tree of the “Great Oregon Tree Plant” on Saturday, February 14, during Oregon’s Sesquicentennial observance at the State Capitol in Salem.
Under the banner of ”The Great Oregon Tree Plant,” which honors Oregon’s 150th birthday, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is coordinating 150 tree-planting events all across the state, which began on Statehood Day, February 14, and ending in April, when National Arbor Day is celebrated.
The first tree planted for this event – a 10-foot-tall western hemlock – will grace the lawn of the southeast corner of the State Library in the State Capitol State Park, eventually attaining a height of 100 feet or more.
“There's no place better in the whole world to grow trees,” Kulongoski said. “They are symbolic of who we are.”
"Planting trees is part of Oregon’s legacy," says ODF Urban Forester Paul Ries, "but this spring's tree planting events are extra special because so many events are planned to honor Oregon's anniversary of statehood."
Between now and late April, some 150 tree plantings are anticipated to take place all across Oregon, in small cities like Durham (population 1,395) and Echo (population 710), and larger cities like Eugene, as well as Portland, where at least a dozen events are planned thus far.
Many events are also slated for Oregon’s Arbor Week, the first full week of April.
|
|
|
Planning a tree planting?
ODF is still accepting nominations of tree-planting events to include in The Great Oregon Tree Plant in honor of Oregon’s Sesquicentennial. Tree plantings can be urban or rural, and involve landscape trees or native seedlings.
If you have a tree planting event scheduled that you would like to be part of the Great Oregon Tree Plant, ODF would like to hear from you. The tree planting should take place between Statehood Day Feb. 14 and National Arbor Day, April 24. The Board of Forestry will be meeting in Grants Pass in late April, and will officially wrap up the Great Oregon Tree Plant.
For each tree planting event, ODF will provide a commemorative plaque that can be placed in the ground nearby, explaining that the planting was part of Oregon’s 150th anniversary celebration..
For more information on the Great Oregon Tree Plant, contact Paul Ries at pries@odf.state.or.us or 503-945-7391.
To nominate a local tree planting event as part of the Great Oregon Tree Plant, contact Justin McMinds at justin.l.mcminds@state.or.us or 503-931-0315.
# # #
|
|
|
|
