We are proud to announce that American Forests’ Community ReLeaf program has earned a 2015 ASAE Power of A Gold award. The gold award, ASAE’s highest honor, showcases organizations that have made local, national, and/or global contributions toward enriching lives, driving innovation, and making the world a better place.
According to Ian Leahy, Director of Urban Forest Programs, receiving the award is not only an honor, but it also serves as encouragement for the program moving forward.
“A few years ago, we reimagined our urban forest programs so that we could immerse ourselves in communities,” says Leahy. “This award from ASAE is a great celebration of our successes to date and indication that we are on the right track as the program continues to grow.”
American Forests launched Community ReLeaf in 2013, with support from Bank of America Charitable Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service, to foster transformational impact via a 3-phase process of scientific tree canopy analysis, high-impact forest restoration, and public engagement. This process was designed to support the program’s goal of expanding and maintaining urban forests in cities throughout the United States. These urban forests can have a profound and long-lasting impact on communities, including providing ecosystem services such as filtering stormwater and clean the air that would cost significant funds to build infrastructure, reduced levels of crime and domestic violence, increased property values, improved resident health, and lowered stress levels.
Our current project cities include:
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We plan to add three more cities by the end of the year through a forthcoming request for proposals.
“As enthusiasm and support for this program grows, we are increasing the number of cities we reach, focusing our impact on select urban mega-regions throughout the country, and using the restoration projects as living laboratories of innovation,” says Leahy
Providing innovation to some of the 80 percent of Americans residing in metropolitan areas, we are proud of the work Community ReLeaf has accomplished and will continue to achieve in years to come.