American Forests Forestbytes June 2009

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Landscape Structures Inc., the nation’s premier manufacturer of playground equipment for elementary schools and city parks, has partnered with American Forests, joining the growing ranks of businesses that want to become more environmentally responsible by planting trees to offset the CO2 produced in manufacturing their products.

For every Evos, Playbooster, and PlayShaper playsystem purchased in 2009, Landscape Structures will calculate the CO2 emitted in its production, and plant trees through the Global ReLeaf program to offset that amount. This simple, compelling way for schools and parks to minimize their carbon footprint brings us closer to ensuring a healthier world for our nation’s children to play in.

This partnership is the natural next step for Landscape Structures Inc., which is the only playground equipment company in the word that compiles and publishes the amount of CO2 that it produces in manufacturing its play systems. To learn more, visit www.playlsi.com. Visit www.playsi.com .

Father's Day Foliage
Father’s Day is coming up, and American Forests is here to offer a greener (and far more fun) alternative to that yearly necktie. This Father’s Day, get Dad something really meaningful: a healthier planet. If you think that might be a bit beyond your price range, think again. Donating trees through American Forests costs only $1 per tree, and they will be planted in one of our ecosystem restoration projects to clean the air and water, prevent erosion, and provide a habitat for endangered species. Donate a minimum of $15 online and receive a certificate for your father explaining that trees have been planted in his honor. You can even add your own personal message.READ MORE

Elmers is Sticking It to Deforestation Elmer’s®Products, Inc., a leader in adhesives, arts and crafts and educational products, has partnered with American Forests to plant 1,000 trees through Global ReLeaf ecosystem restoration projects. READ MORE

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Every day we post new stories about trees and forests on our homepage at americanforests.org. Here are some worth a second look:

Animals Stranded in Sumatra
In Indonesia, a population of orangutans are finding themselves faced with the possibility of homelessness, even though they live in the forest surrounding a national park. Certain paper companies have plans to turn the 700,000+ acres into pulp and paper plantations, devastating the orangutan’s natural habitat, and weakening the ecosystem in the nearby national park. READ MORE

Hiding In Plain Sight
How does a tree species that covers an area of more than 3,000 square miles remain unnoticed and undiscovered until after 2005? In the case of the acacia fumosa, it’s because that area happens to be right in the middle of a war zone. READ MORE

Beetle on the Move

Uh-oh. It looks like the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is on the move again. In May, Minnesota became the 10th state to confirm the destructive beetle’s presence. First introduced to the U.S. in the 1990s, the EAB’s move has been slow but deadly, taking down roughly 30 million ash trees. READ MORE

Falling Short of the Mark

Seattle seems to be struggling with its efforts to improve urban tree cover throughout the city. READ MORE


	Keeping Cool in American Forests Magazine As summer warms up, are you finding that you just can’t take the heat? Keep cool the green way by planting trees around your home or office. Shade trees aren’t a new idea; they’re a time-tested method that works! Trees planted in the right spots around a home can keep it cool without going to the trouble and expense of air conditioning. READ MORE

	A Day in the Life The Fairfax Network, the educational outreach arm of Fairfax County Public Schools, recently featured American Forests’ Urban Ecosystem Center in a video designed to increase student interest and performance in science, technology, engineering and math. The video shows “a day in the life” of the Urban Ecosystem Center GIS staff, and their efforts in analyzing satellite data and applying the results to urban ecosystem management. American Forests’ involvement resulted from participation by Steve Haley at the GIS Day activities at George Mason University this past November.

	The Ultimate Recycling If you want to make a large impact to help the environment, and save yourself some money, consider composting at home. Take the vegetarian food waste from your kitchen and utilize a composting bin to slowly turn your waste into organic fertilizer. You can also use leaves and twigs from any backyard plants you may have pruned. All you need is a little space in your backyard and in time you will have your own, homemade, soil conditioner to put around your trees and plants, plus your waste will no longer take up space in our landfills.READ MORE

	Win! In April, the online auto insurance company Esurance asked their policyholders to nominate the organizations they thought were doing the most for the environment on a daily basis. They received an overwhelming response, but after careful consideration, their team of eco-experts selected American Forests as the winner of the $5000 Esurance Earth Day Grant! Check out all the results on their Green Policyholder page. Thanks, Esurance members, for your vote of confidence.

	Get Outside If it’s nice outside, get out into nature. Psychological studies have shown that nature and trees in particular offer restoration to the human mind and body. Ease your mind, body, and soul with some natural rest and relaxation under a tree, or a picnic with a friend or family member. What could be a more natural stress reliever?

	Global ReLeaf Restoration Success Tall, majestic 400-year old Eastern longleaf pine trees once dominated as many as 90 million acres of unbroken forest from Virginia to east Texas. Prized for their hard, rot-resistant wood, these forests were decimated as the young country developed. Just 10,000 acres of old growth longleaf pine remain today, while younger trees grow on maybe 4 percent of its original range. READ MORE


	The Forest Service Budget On May 8, President Obama submitted his proposed budget to Congress. It includes an overall increase of $200 million for the Forest Service, with significant increases in the agency’s capital improvements and maintenance budget, and a $100 million boost for wildland fire management. The Forest Service budget specifically notes the importance of ongoing partnerships with American Forests through tree-planting activities that achieve the agency’s ecosystem restoration goals.READ MORE

	New Faces In May, President Obama announced his nominee for Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, who will be overseeing the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Homer Lee Wilkes has worked for the NRCS for nearly 30 years, and currently serves as the State Conservationist for the agency in Mississippi. READ MORE

	Eastern Voices for Community Forestry American Forests and the Communities Committee recently convened a meeting of community-based forest policy leaders from the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. Since 2001, most of the Forest Policy Center’s work on issues in the West has been in partnership with the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition. READ MORE

Tree or forest questions? Ask American Forests’ expert.
Email treedoc@amfor.org