Mel Coleman Jr. visits with students attending the Arbor Day announcement.

American Forests joined Coleman Natural Foods at a Washington, DC, Arbor Day tree planting to announce a decade-long environmental program aimed at planting 20 million trees over the next 10 years. The first beneficiary of the Coleman Eco-Project 2015 is the Nez Perce tribe, which received $60,000 to restore 8,000 acres of Idaho forest destroyed by the 2003 Mile Post 59 Fire.

"We've undertaken our land-based ecosystem program to improve and preserve our environment," said Mel Coleman Jr., chairman of the nation's largest natural meat company. He pledged to plant 1 million trees on behalf of Coleman Foods and challenged Coleman customers to join him to plant the other 9 million. The U.S. Forest Service will match each tree planted for a total of 20 million trees.

The trees planted across the United States this year will have a special emphasis on wildfire, with sites in Alabama, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Texas, and Wyoming.

Joining Coleman and American Forests' Executive Director Deborah Gangloff at the April 22 event were: Mark Rey, USDA under secretary for natural resources and the environment; Sally Collins, U.S. Forest Service associate deputy chief; Andrew Johnson, Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee chairman; and Douglas P. Wheeler, chairman of the American Farmland Trust.

American Farmland Trust is a partner in the Eco-Project, which will also restore 50 million acres of sustainable farm and ranch land, address the nation's critical forest restoration needs, and institute educational and training programs to protect working farms and ranches.

Johnson, of the Nez Perce tribe, offered a tribal blessing before helping plant a 10-foot Colorado blue spruce. The 2003 Idaho wildfire devoured 60 percent of the tree life of the forestland, part of the Nez Perce forestland watershed within the Clearwater National Forest.

The Clearwater River, which serves as the tribe's water source, borders the area. The Nez Perce believe water to be the "blood vein of the earth," and they drink it before and after a feast in order to give thanks.

The forest is home to several threatened or endangered species, such as the gray wolf, which the Nez Perce tribe continues to work to remove from the endangered species list. The restoration of this land through tree planting will save the landscape and maintain the Clearwater River's water quality.

"We sincerely hope others throughout the country will join us to reach our 20 million tree planting goal," Coleman told those assembled at the Arbor Day announcement.

You can contribute to the challenge by donating a dollar at the checkout of such natural/organic grocery retailers as select A&P stores, Dorothy Lane Markets, Knowlan's, the Mid-Atlantic and North-Atlantic regions of Whole Foods Markets, and Wild Oats Markets. Additional contributions can be made online at either www.americanforests.org or www.colemannatural.com -Meghan Amoroso

Revitalizing Afghanistan

American Forests has joined Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and other partners in an effort to replant trees to revitalize Afghanistan's orchards, nurseries, woodlots, and greenbelts. The people-to-people tree-planting program, called the New York Partnership for a Green Afghanistan, is designed to help Afghanistan regain its historic position as the "orchard of Central Asia" and support Afghans as they rebuild their orchard, vineyard, and forestry businesses.

The announcement and a symbolic tree planting ceremony were held in Kabul and attended by President Hamid Karzai. Other partners include the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and International Paper.

The group is organized under the auspices of the Global Partnership for Afghanistan (GPFA), which was founded soon after 9/11 by New Yorkers and Afghan Americans in recognition of the tragedies suffered by both countries. GFPA is developing family-owned orchards, nurseries, and woodlot businesses encompassing an initial 70,000 trees. For its part, American Forests is seeking corporate and individual sponsors to support this critical effort. Visit http://www.gpfa.org for information.

SUNY-ESF will support a university-to-university exchange for forestry faculty and students with Kabul University and donated 10,000 willows for use as a woody crop for fuel and bio-energy. Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will contribute expertise in fruit breeding, production, and disease and insect management, all vital to the revitalization of fruit farms.

The initial partners in the campaign also will foster the latest advancements in horticulture and forestry technology with a goal of fast-forwarding Afghanistan's environmental and economic recovery. This includes academic exchange, technical support to modernize the horticultural industry of Afghanistan, and forest development.

"After more than a quarter-century of war, nearly 28 million Afghans are struggling to rebuild their livelihoods and communities in the face of destroyed homes, roads and infrastructure, a devastated natural environment and a shattered economy," said Sen. Clinton, who recently returned from Afghanistan. "The New York Partnership for a Green Afghanistan is an important step toward helping Afghans regain self-sufficiency, rebuild a viable economy and achieve political stability."

"I have personally witnessed the generosity of the American people as I revisit the Afghan countryside," said GPFA Co-chair M. Ishaq Nadiri lauded American generosity to Afghans, saying, "With US support, Afghanistan is rebuilding roads, infrastructure and security. Now we need to help Afghans restore livelihoods. Acres of scorched earth stand and dried fields stand where Afghans once cultivated flourishing orchards and vineyards, and the country struggles today to feed its population." Nadiri, the Jay Gould Professor of Economics at New York University, serves as senior economic advisor to President Karzai in Kabul.

On the Prowl

It is the ultimate personals ad: Tall, dark, and handsome-a potential star waiting, undiscovered, for that certain someone. This summer stretch your legs-and your imagination-and join the hunt in search of national champion trees, the largest of 826 of America's native and naturalized species. American Forests, the nation's oldest conservation group, is both the founder and the keeper of the National Register of Big Trees, established in 1940.

At American Forests' website (www.americanforests.org) you can download a list of trees without champs, including the states where they are found; a description of how to measure a tree; a nomination form; and the name of your state coordinator, who can answer questions and also receive nominations.

Information about the current champs-including some photos-is also available at the site. Nominations are being accepted for the 2006-2007 Register until August 1.

Washington Outlook

As negotiations for spending for Fiscal Year 2006 go forward, we're seeing stiff resistance to President Bush's spending proposals that adversely affect rural communities.

As we go to press, the House has passed its Interior Appropriations bill (HR 2361), but the Senate has only just moved its version of the bill through the initial subcommittee and few details are available. Most of our discussion focuses on spending proposals and language in the House-approved bill.

In the last Washington Outlook (Spring 2005), we expressed concern about the President's FY2006 proposals to reduce or eliminate many programs that provide grants and assistance to communities for conservation, wildfire protection, and rural development. The House bill questions many of these proposals and restores funding in several important areas, both for the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

The House report accompanying HR 2361 recognizes wildfire management and forest health programs as "critically important core programs on which the Committee has focused scarce resources.""Without these funds," it states, "we will not be able to protect communities and natural resources." It also warns of "ever-increasing wildfire suppression costs" and a growing number and severity of "large fire events."

Particularly important is the House bill's restoration of funding for programs such as the Forest Service's State Fire Assistance Program. In the report, the Committee appeared puzzled "why the Administration chose to dramatically cut this successful cooperative conservation and protection program in its request."

The report says that state fire assistance funds should be used preferentially to support community wildfire protection planning and implementation. We are pleased to see this language in the House report again this year and hope that, unlike last year, it will make its way into the final conference report.

Similarly, the House bill restores $5 million to the Bureau of Land Management's Rural Fire Assistance program, expressing skepticism of the Administration's claim that "similar funding was available within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for rural fire assistance."

The House took steps to restore funding for the Economic Action Program (EAP), a Forest Service program that provides technical and financial assistance to rural communities for capacity building and economic development. EAP has been a high priority for American Forests' advocacy efforts with community-based forestry partners, but the Administration has proposed to eliminate it over the last few years. The House restored nearly $8 million for the program, largely by transferring $5 million for a biomass grants program from the hazardous fuels reduction program.

This is helpful, and the biomass grants program is consistent with EAP, but we are greatly concerned about continued reductions in EAP support. Although Congress continues to restore funding, levels have dropped steadily from a high of nearly $36 million in FY 2002 to $19 million in FY 2005 to $8 million now. We hope the Senate boosts support for EAP in its proposals.

In other State and Private Forestry (S&PF) programs, the House questions "why, with the huge concern nationally for healthy forests, the (Administration's) budget request included such large decreases for these immensely valuable and vital forest health programs." The House bill also provides small increases above the Administration's requests for the Forest Stewardship program (up $300,000 to $37.4 million) and the Urban and Community Forestry Program (up $700,000 to $28.2 million).

To offset these increases, the House proposes to significantly reduce funding for Forest Legacy, an Administration priority, calling new land acquisition a "low priority." Forest Legacy funding will be a key point of discussion for the House and Senate conference committee, since one of the few highlights released on the Senate's bill is $62.6 million for Forest Legacy.

Finally, one of American Forests' highest priorities has been and is to ensure that national forest lands affected by management actions, such as timber harvest, or natural disturbances, such as wildfire or insect and disease, are effectively reforested through tree planting or natural regeneration. We provided testimony on these issues for a House Resources Committee hearing on post-fire restoration last year (see Summer/Autumn 2004).

In follow-up to that hearing, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently completed the report, Forest Service: Better Data Are Needed to Identify and Prioritize Reforestation and Timber Stand Improvement Needs (GAO-05-374). To discuss the findings, the same House committee convened another hearing in April. Most important to us is a GAO conclusion that, "Although the Forest Service annually reports its reforestation and timber stand improvement to the Congress, the agency has not developed a tally of these needs that accurately reflects the condition of our national forests."

House bill 2361 responds to the GAO report by providing an increase of $11.7 million over last year's funding level for the National Forest System program for improving and establishing forest vegetation. Accompanying report language specifies, however, that the agency "needs to standardize guidance for reporting data on reforestation and timber stand improvement needs and improve the data's accuracy before additional increases can be considered." - Gerry Gray

Nature at Your Mousepad

The 2005 National Conference on Urban Ecosystems program is now available on American Forests' website. More than 45 presentations will highlight the theme: Nature at Your Service. Learn how trees can help people can reconnect to their city's natural resources, meet regulatory requirements for clean air and water, revitalize neighborhoods, and reduce the costs of building and maintaining infrastructure. Conference topics include: Coalitions for Political Change; Green Infrastructure Case Studies; Beyond Tree Planting: Citizens Branch Out; Managing Natural Resources to Maximize Green Values, Goods, and Services; Beyond the Classroom: Real World Learning Through Community Forestry; and Why Non-Traditional Players Think Green.

The conference will be held November 17-18, 2005 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Early-bird registration rates (through Sept. 30) are $350. Deadline for conference room rates at the Westin Charlotte (www.westin.com; type in Charlotte, NC) is Oct. 14.

Trees for Texas

American Forests' Mike Lehman salutes H-E-B's Trees for Texas program.

One hundred offspring of Texas' famed Treaty Oak were planted around the state April 13 as part of the grocery chain H-E-B's celebration of its 100th anniversary. The trees, from American Forests' Historic Tree Nursery, wrapped up a year-long celebration that included H-E-B's donation of American Forests' environmental education training, software, and lesson plans for teachers at 40 state schools. H-E-B also donated five saplings connected to famous people or events to each school to plant on its grounds. In addition, American Forests planted 100 trees in a Global ReLeaf Forest restoration project for each participating school. "H-E-B is committed to actively pursuing environmental initiatives that ensure the natural beauty of the communities we serve, and that educate students about the world around them," says Susan Ghertner, H-E-B's manager of environmental affairs. For more on American Forests' environmental education program, visit here; to learn more about H-E-B: www.heb.com.

Two for Trees

• Men's hair care products manufacturer Paul Mitchell has joined American Forests in working to protect the air and environment through tree planting. Paul Mitchell is planting trees to offset the carbon emissions generated through manufacture and distribution of its Tea Tree brand (www.paulmitchell.com). The company is also donating to American Forests' Global ReLeaf Forests program to further preserve natural resources at home and abroad.
• Planting Thought, a family-based certified organic clothing company, is donating a portion of the profits from its clothing and product sales to American Forests' Global ReLeaf campaign. Planting Thought says its "Eco-friendly clothing and designs are crafted to arouse family and environmental consciousness. We are dedicated alongside American Forests to the restoration of our lands." To learn more, visit www.plantingthought.org.