An Update on our Tree Planting Pledge
In May of 2020, our stewardship crew placed a small red flag in the ground. The bare sticklike plant next to it was marked sapling #1.
So began our million tree initiative.
The unassuming little tree was the first to be planted in a gap in the forest of Betley Woods at Glacier’s End. As the first of a million, its planting fostered a small bright spot in the midst of the pandemic’s early days.
Over the next days, the team used newly purchased tree-planting equipment to put 10,000 trees in a 19-acre former agricultural field. Four years later, the forest-in-the-making thrives, providing transitional habitat for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife.
Our stewardship crew has since gone on to reforest more than ten sites. Nearly 70,000 trees have gone into the ground so far in this effort. The plan is to create large blocks of wildlife habitat, while also helping to offset the effects of a changing climate.
With the purchase of a mechanized tree planter (named “Aldo”), our team’s efficiency skyrocketed. They are able to plant roughly 2,000 trees a day, at about half the cost of contracting the work.
Some areas are inaccessible by tractor, so small groups of volunteers help with these targeted plantings.
With a goal of expanding protected areas, the team focuses on buffering high-quality forests, such as Meltzer Woods, Mossy Point, and Betley Woods.
Most recently, they worked with our partners at the DNR to plant 20,000 trees in former farm fields adjacent to Big Walnut Nature Preserve in Putnam County. Supporting conservation partners in this critical work is a privilege.
The tree plantings have been made possible by donors to the Evergreen Fund for Forests, Blue River Community Foundation, the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, the Efroymson Family Fund, the USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program, Steve and Linda Hullett, Jane Sweet—and you, our generous members. Together, we’ll keep expanding forest interior habitat, up to a million trees (and beyond).
See the crew in action on our Youtube channel.
Shawndra Miller
Communications Manager