American Forests connects the trees and the stars in a new public television program that explores celebrities' environmental connections.

by Ellyne Lonergan

The author at work filming musician Don Henley on Caddo Lake, Texas.

If you had the chance to meet Ali MacGraw, what would you say? No doubt it would be something about the pinyon in her yard. You could even ask her opinion about her pinyon. And Val Kilmer? Why, what a great juniper you have!

American Forests and I have collaborated for several years to produce two documentaries and a 13-part series for public television-each about trees. As difficult as it is to imagine, at first not everyone believed trees would make for great television. Now the programs distributed on behalf of American Forests and GlassOnion Productions have drawn audiences in the multiple millions.

The first program highlighted historically significant events as seen by this country's oldest living witnesses, trees that still stand as landmarks. Silent Witnesses: America's Historic Trees, hosted by James Whitmore, was among American Public Television's (APT's) best-carried single programs in its 42-year history. In spring 2003, APT requested a renewal of the program's rights period, and it continues to be broadcast nationally. When I produced that program, I believed a show about trees had to be positioned as a serious documentary to be taken seriously. Though the program was successful, my theory soon went out the window.

TreeStories, the series produced subsequent to Silent Witnesses and hosted by Jeff Meyer, American Forests' Historic Tree Nursery director, included 13 half hours on topics as varied as Champion ('Big!') Trees, Treehouses, and Wildfire Education. Jeff and I set out to have as much fun as possible with these shows, sure that our audience would too.

There were serious issues to be addressed, but when Jeff was trying to squeeze through the door of a little girl's treehouse, or when he was wheezing along after a big tree hunter on a steep trail, we let the camera roll. The audience responded with the same enthusiasm, and this series, too, is currently being rebroadcast.

Our most recent program, Leaving a Legacy, which features celebrities and their contributions to the environment, was offered for distribution to PBS stations in November. It's estimated that Legacy will be carried by stations in every market in the country and will draw many millions of viewers.

It's been challenging to find different ways to shoot trees, but we knew this program deserved a certain reverence in the filming style, both because of its subject matter and its interviews. We set out to showcase our stunning national resources, but we also knew enough to take certain segments less seriously, as when Jeff gasps for air trying to emulate heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, or when he is trying to navigate an interview with a peripatetic force like actor Val Kilmer.

When I began production for this program, I wasn't certain who we'd meet or where the show would take us. The seeds for the program were planted when we interviewed Val in New Mexico, where he planted American Forests' 20 millionth Global ReLeaf tree. New Mexico is his home, and he is determined to be a good steward of the land while he is there. When I first met Val on the morning of the shoot, he had long hair up under a hat and a full beard. He read the poem "Trees" by his relative Joyce Kilmer.

We met Val again several months later to tape him for his feature segment. He was preparing for a film role and so had Marine-short hair and no beard. This time, he said "Trees" was Joyce's only good poem. Well, so much for our videotapes matching. Actors!

My crew and I stayed at his ranch, and all his reasons for caring about the land there became apparent. His property is 6,000 acres of the southwestern landscape accented by the Pecos River. The land is characterized by subtle surprises and is steeped in history dating to the Anastazi people. Because it had once been a cattle ranch, and ravaged for the building of the Santa Fe Railroad, there are years of work to be done in restoring it to its natural state, which is Val's goal.

I was taken by the place in general. Santa Fe, a community of artists and musicians, had a richness and vibrancy as sensual as the green chili and margaritas. Ali MacGraw, who also lives near there, said she was drawn there by circumstances she couldn't ignore that said she was meant to be there.

We interviewed Ali at the Randall Davey Audubon property, a place she goes to enjoy the quiet and to take in the beauty and the wildlife. A yoga enthusiast, she is a passionate activist on behalf of the environment and feels an obligation to be a responsible global citizen. And she looks wonderful. I was knocked over when we met, and I left the shoot feeling like I ought to take up yoga. Fast.

She reminisced about the well-known Bedford Oak in the New York community of her childhood. Its majesty inspires her as she imagines all it has witnessed in its many hundreds of years there. The landmark oak started Ali on a lifelong love affair with trees that moves her to take obsessive care of the pinyon and ponderosa pine on her property.

Batter up! Stan Musial thrust us into another world and another time. We met him in St. Louis, where he played out his famed baseball career as a Cardinal. Statues immortalizing him stand outside Busch Stadium, and very few people on the street do not recognize Stan the Man. Our lunch meeting was filled with Stan's jokes and memories, interrupted only by little kids-and big kids-hoping for his autograph. After many years of this, he has learned to carry his own baseball cards, pre-signed.

We were excited about interviewing Stan in the stadium, so we set up early, only to discover that our interview was taking place two days before Opening Day for the Cardinals' 2003 season. Production equipment on a baseball field two days before Opening Day does not make a grounds crew very happy. So, as we set up again in the locker room, a few players who were not on the team's pre-season road trip got the opportunity of a lifetime. Stan was filled with great stories, great memories, and great tips for the next time at the plate.

We thought we'd have to spend some time explaining how a baseball player fits into a program about stewardship of the environment; people cut down trees to make Louisville Sluggers, after all. But people seem to get that thinning the forests can make them healthier, so there we were next to one of the greatest hitters of all time with former trees all around. Stan's bat was designed as a combination of Jimmy Fox's handle and Babe Ruth's barrel. He never wore gloves because he wanted to feel the wood. He liked the wide grain, and Louisville always obliged.

While in St. Louis, we tried the local specialty, something called Anheuser-Busch beer. Good thing. It eased our pain when, after we had already left the city, we learned that resident Jackie Joyner-Kersee had agreed to participate in the program.

On a trip to Los Angeles later in March we interviewed British actor Michael York at Huntington Gardens. An exquisite place with immaculate grounds, it was just the setting for Michael's feature on English oaks (of course) and Huntington itself, which he regards as an oasis in the middle of a concrete jungle. Naturally, Huntington that day was the setting for a Starsky and Hutch feature film, so the first half of the interview was interspersed with about 30 explosions.

Michael is a professional with extremely good humor and managed to navigate the firebombs and the accompanying expletives with true grace. The result is an unavoidable reference to the filming in his segment, but he made it work. He is an actor, author, and diplomat.

While in Los Angeles we met with Indian activist Russell Means to discuss his segment. He is a powerful presence, visually striking, and he speaks softly-attributes that have made him a worthy political presence. As an Indian, he expressed his spiritual and ancestral ties to the land, especially the land of his people, the Lakota Sioux from the badlands of South Dakota.

He believes the environment will ultimately take care of itself, but that matriarchal societies, as exemplified by most indigenous peoples, best protect the land from humans. His mother shared this wisdom with him: "If all the wing-eds were to die, everything would die. If all our green relatives were to die, everything would die. If all the four-leggeds were to die, everything would die. But if all the two-leggeds-all the humans-were to die, everything would flourish."

We interviewed Russell in South Dakota, where he felt most at home. It was just days after his Sun Dance ceremony during which the Lakota dance around an aspen tree, their tree of life. Russell calls the aspen the anarchist of trees, no doubt a reason it is near and dear to his heart.

At this point, I realized it would be a long time before getting on an airplane would seem like a vacation again. Off to Dallas. I had been working with a small crew, but opportunities to interview Don Henley and famed Dallas Cowboy Bob Lilly came up quickly, and so I grabbed the only people available-my husband and my business manager. At least we saved on an extra hotel room.

There is nothing that will make you feel quite as small as a former NFL defensive lineman opening the door to his home. Former Cowboys coach Tom Landry regards Bob Lilly as the best player he ever coached. He stalked quarterbacks like a predator. Now, he photographs pretty flowers. Amazingly, this gentle giant has become an acclaimed nature photographer. When he was named a Kodak All-American, he was given a camera and a year's supply of film. That's all it took, since Bob seems to pursue every passion with the same work ethic that made him a Hall-of-Famer.

Don Henley met us at the Dairy Queen in Linden, Texas, urging us to enjoy the local cuisine. He grew up in Linden, and as a boy planted a now-beautiful oak tree with his dad next to their home. We interviewed him about 45 minutes from Linden on Caddo Lake in Uncertain, Texas.

Uncertain was incorporated so its residents could have alcohol in an otherwise dry county. They were in a hurry for the alcohol, but not to name the town, so the papers were incomplete when filed, with only 'uncertain' written temporarily on the line requesting the town's name. Or at least so goes one of the legends surrounding the town's name.

Caddo Lake is one of the most breathtaking places I have seen in this country. It is a baldcypress ecosystem, and though the trees are young for baldcypress-450 to 700 years old-they line the banks and create corridors that draw you into another world. Lily pads blanket the glass surface of the lake, which reflects magical sunrises and sunsets. The sky is a canvas painted with animated birds.

Developers in Texas who hope to take its water on spec threaten Caddo Lake. The cypress' survival depends on fluctuating water levels, and development would impose a static water line that would kill the trees and the myriad animal species that depend on that environment. Henley, who has formed the Caddo Lake Institute for research and education, also facilitates resident representation on the issue before the Texas legislature.

Yes, we went back to St. Louis to interview Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She is a supporter of the Missouri Botanic Garden, where we shot stand-ups of Jeff, our host. She is also a tree planter and would like her legacy to be the trees she and her husband have planted at their home. Her athletic career made Jackie grateful for trees in a surprisingly simple, pure way. She spent years of hot summers training on tracks notorious for their lack of even ornamental trees. When she found one, she used it as a goal for her sprints and recovered in its shade. We interviewed Jackie under her favorite spruce, at the top of the hill where she did her post-workout 'bounders'-sprints up a hill after a workout.

Throughout the production I had the privilege to be in the presence of many inspirational people. I hope the resulting program will inspire others to leave the world as good, if not better, than they found it. And despite the wonderful places I've seen, I've learned that if you're seeking beauty, sometimes you have to look no further than your own back yard. As Don Henley told us, "You've got to brighten the corner where you live." AF

Ellyne Lonergan is president of GlassOnion Productions in Atlantic Beach, Florida.[TOP]