"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
--Chinese Proverb
I know, at CRT we’ve been focused on trees a lot lately. Part of that is the role that they play in the health of neighborhoods and individuals.
Simply put, trees are vital to our individual and communal well?being and future prosperity.
We all have a stake in the future health and replenishment of our urban and rural forests, and this is celebrated and acknowledged here in Oregon.
If further proof were needed, State Forester Calvin Mukumoto has proclaimed all of April as Oregon Arbor Month, allowing lots of time for commemorative plantings and other tree-related activities. Of course this all leads up to Arbor Day, which this year is Friday April 28th.
Throughout the month, Oregonians are invited to participate in interacting and supporting trees through clean-ups, planting, or volunteering on a plant site; or, on the other hand, simply hiking, reflecting on trees’ vital contributions to us as people and as a family and then outward into the community.
This award also recognizes the tree stewardship of local leaders and volunteers in Oregon’s nearly 70 Tree Cities USA and half dozen Tree Campuses USA. In Oregon, we are blessed to be home to those who embrace the “tree-hugger” role and see the many benefits of trees.
“Trees play an essential role in the lives of Oregonians,” said Mukumoto.
“Living through the extreme heat of 2021 and the isolation of the COVID pandemic has brought home to all of us the importance of urban trees to provide shade and cooling, as well as contact with nature right in our own neighborhoods. This proclamation highlights those and the many other benefits that both rural and urban forests provide to the people of Oregon.”
Scott Altenhoff, manager of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Urban and Community Forestry Program said, “Arbor Month is the perfect time to reflect on the contribution trees make to our physical, mental and emotional health, to the livability of our communities, to our safety, the quality and quantity of our air and water, and to our economy.”
Altenhoff said, “With extreme weather events becoming more common, more and more communities are recognizing trees for the role they play in moderating temperatures and slowing rainfall runoff and erosion.”
So whether you plant a tree, or find a new favorite tree to sit under, or take your children to a leafy park, get the most out of one of the key factors that makes Oregon great: Our trees.
