"Holy Cow, Batman! This place needs some trees!"

Well, OK, the conversation didn't go exactly like that, but American Forests didn't say no when Hollywood leading man-and former "Batman Forever" star-Val Kilmer pitched in to help plant the 20 millionth Global ReLeaf tree in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Under overcast skies and before a crowd that included fans of the 42-year-old star of such films as "The Saint" and "The Doors," Kilmer joined American Forests, the U.S Forest Service, and retailer Eddie Bauer in planting a sawtooth oak at the town's Ashley Pond.

The oak is a symbol not only of American Forests' rural and urban ecosystem restoration efforts but of the rebirth of the town of Los Alamos, which was devastated by the Cerro Grande fire in 2000.

American Forests has worked with Tree New Mexico and the U.S. Forest Service to help replant the community and surrounding forests (see The Healing of Los Alamos, page 38).

Kilmer was a natural choice to help plant the milestone tree, which signifies the pinnacle of American Forests' campaign to plant 20 million trees for the millennium. A distant cousin of the poet Joyce Kilmer, the actor owns a ranch near the Los Alamos community.

During ceremonies preceding the planting, Val Kilmer quoted the famous lines penned by his relative: "I think that I shall never see a poem so lovely as a tree." A published poet himself, the actor said his poetry frequently encourages people to plant trees.

Rick Crouse, senior vice president of development for American Forests, reminded the crowd that Global ReLeaf is a partnership of thousands-individuals, local groups, and corporations. "It's our partners that have planted the other 19,999,999 trees," he said.

The "other 19,999,999 trees" have been planted in more than 500 ecosystem restoration projects across the U.S. and around the world, projects as diverse as restoring riparian buffers for salmon in Washington, planting mangroves along the coast of Indonesia, growing whitebark pine for grizzly bears in Idaho, and creating memorial groves for the victims of 9-11.

Although the organization has reached its historic milestone, Karen Fedor, vice president of Global ReLeaf, says it will not rest on its tree-planting laurels. "We've been so impressed by the support we've gotten from individuals, other nonprofits, corporations, and municipalities. It's heartening to know so many share our love and concern for trees,"

Fedor added that there are still many forests in need of restoration. She plans to announce Global ReLeaf's next milestone on Arbor Day.

Logging always seems to engender debate, but in communities along the Ottawa River in Canada, the practice has taken on a less controversial, more environmentally sound tone.

A Canadian-based company, Logs End Inc., is going underwater to recover lost timbers from abandoned mills, factories, homesteads, and lumber camps. The old-growth logs sank in the Ottawa River in the late 1800s during a time of heavy logging in Canada.

After 150 years the logs are still in pristine condition, thanks to low water temperatures and the age and quality of the wood. The "recycled" wood is being sold for buildings, furniture, and flooring.

The Ottawa River was a major transportation route for the old-growth red and white pines logged from forests along the banks of the Ottawa River beginning in the 1870s. Arriving in Quebec City the logs were sawn into lumber and shipped around the world. By the turn of the century, as millions of logs were floated down the river, many sank and were never recovered. Experts estimate that there are at least 11,000 logs preserved in the icy Ottawa River waters.

Logs End Inc. has adopted a "zero waste" policy for the underwater lumber it harvests and says it's committed to the "environmentally sound" retrieval of submerged logs, called "deadheads."

In fact, Michael Robertson of C.D.C. in British Columbia, says underwater logging actually benefits marine life by increasing the nutrients in water. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources undertook an intense study of the impact of underwater logging, concluding that the practice neither harms fish nor contributes to pollution.

Although American Forests isn't in the "recycled logs" business, it does plant trees to reforest areas damaged by human and natural causes. You can plant some trees when you click on www.americanforests.org.