American Forests, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit announced that its Global ReLeaf program will plant 3.2 million trees in 2009 to help restore forests important for endangered wildlife, clean water, and carbon sequestration. Native trees will be planted in 42 projects in 8 countries and 18 U.S. states and benefit species including endangered red cockaded woodpeckers in the South, trout in Oregon and West Virginia, the wintering grounds of monarch butterflies in Mexico, wildlife along Lower Kinabatangan River in Borneo, Malaysia, and migratory birds on four continents. (See complete project list below.)
Seven projects to help restore forests severely damaged by wildfire are in California with additional wildfire projects in Montana, Colorado, Arizona and Minnesota. Species to be planted include Sitka spruce in Alaska, giant sequoia and ponderosa pine in California, longleaf pine in Florida and the Carolinas, red spruce in Maryland’s Appalachian mountains, hardwoods in Arkansas, and mangroves in China.
“American Forests is committed to planting native trees in forest restoration projects for the range of benefits that trees and forests provide, including clean water and air, cooling shade, wildlife habitat, and the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow climate change,” said Deborah Gangloff, American Forests’ executive director. “We fund these trees entirely from the contributions of our members, the public, and our corporate partners. We thank the public and civic-minded businesses who continue to show their commitment to a healthy planet and healthy communities in these tough economic times.”
Every dollar contributed to American Forests’ Global ReLeaf Program plants a tree in one of these projects (www.americanforests.org). Since its inception in 1988 to encourage and support local tree planting to address global problems, the Global ReLeaf program has planted more than 25 million trees. American Forests recently set a new goal to plant 100 million trees by the year 2020.
Global ReLeaf partners with local organizations to provide them grants to plant trees in rural and urban sites damaged by development, pests, natural disasters, and other causes. Planting partners this year include the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District, Trout Unlimited, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Hiawatha National Forest, the Apiculture and Nature Conservation Organization of Cameroon, and the Asociacion Guyra Paraguay. A map of project locations and proposal applications are online at www.americanforests.org. American Forests has an official accreditation from the Better Business Bureau and has a four star rating from Charity Navigator.
2009 project list
Alaska: In the Cape Chiniak Reforestation Effort, American Forests will work with Leisnoi Inc. and the Forest and Land Management Inc. to restore 2,600 acres of forest that were harvested in the mid-90s and have had little natural regeneration. In the third of a five-year project, 500 acres will be planted with 75,000 Sitka spruce seedlings.
Arkansas: The Cache River/Bayou DeView project, with the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts will plant 261,000 hardwood trees over 600 acres of nearly entirely deforested land, in order to prevent erosion and increase wildlife habitat.
Arkansas: For the Jesseville/Winona Acquired Land Restoration Project, two large tracts of land have been acquired by the Ouichita National Forest to be planted with native shortleaf pine to enhance the natural hardwood, resulting in a pine-hardwood forest.
Arizona: In the R-C Reforestation Project, 17,000 seedlings will be planted in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest to assist in recovery and growth after the Rodeo-Chediski Fire.
California: At the Pine Fire Project, 2,000 seedlings will be planted in the Angeles National Forest, and a trailhead of the National Scenic Trail restored, to reestablish a recreation area devastated by a wildfire in the 1950s.
California: For the Curve – Hwy 2 Project, American Forests will give funding to the Angeles National Forest to plant 6,000 trees to restore an area devastated by the Curve Fire.
California: At the Charlton-Chilao Project, 4,000 seedlings will be planted in a recreation site in the Angeles National Forest to ensure the continuation of old growth forest.
California: For the Charlton KV Project 3,000 seedlings will be planted in the Angeles National Forest to restore the watershed and old growth forest, and to improve wildlife habitat.
California: The Bar Complex Planting will plant 64,000 trees in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to restore areas along the Scenic Byway that connects the northern Sacramento Valley with California’s northwest coast.
California: The Angora Fire Restoration Project will consist of 66,000 trees being planted over 220 acres of land in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit National Forest affected by the Angora Fire of 2007 in order to reestablish wildlife habitat for vulnerable species such as the spotted owl and northern goshawk.
California: For the Butler II Restoration Project, 85,000 seedlings will be planted to reestablish conifer vegetation in a region of the San Bernardino National Forest that was destroyed by the Butler II and Slide fires.
California: The McNally Fire Restoration Project will plant 132,000 seedlings in the Sequoia National Forest to reestablish conifer vegetation and enhance the forest ecosystem after the McNally Fire.
California: The Burton Fire Restoration Project will plant 7,000 ponderosa pine and giant sequoia seedlings to contribute to the habitat diversity of poorly stocked areas within the Sequoia National Forest.
California: The Mountain Communities Wildfire ReLeaf Project, in conjunction with the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District, will plant 125,000 trees in the San Bernardino Mountains to restore forests decimated by drought, wildfire, and insect epidemics.
Colorado: The Burn Canyon Fire Reforestation Project will plant saplings across a 11,400-acre region of the burn area from the 2002 Burn Canyon Wildfire, located inside the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forest.
Delaware: The Delmarva Poultry Vegetative Buffers Project will plant over 20,000 trees with the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. to create buffer zones that will protect the environment from the air and water pollution produced by Delmarva Peninsula poultry farms.
Florida: The Bugaboo Reforestation Project will partner with the Osceola National Forest to plant 300,000 longleaf pine seedlings to restore an area within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge that was devastated by a 2007 wildfire.
Florida: For phase 2 of the Hal Scott Longleaf Pine Planting, American Forests will partner with St. Johns River Water Management District to plant over 50,000 longleaf pine trees in the Hal Scott Regional Preserve and Park to increase viable habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.
Illinois: The Illinois Expressway Project will plant 2,000 native conifers along major roadways to offset deforestation and farmland loss from urban development.
Illinois:The Cache River State Natural Area Reforestation Project will partner with Shawnee Resource Conservation & Development to plant 121,000 trees in the Cache River State Natural Area to support migratory birds, as well as enhance the habitat for over 100 animal species listed as threatened or endangered.
Maryland: The Glades Red Spruce Restoration Project, and our partnership with The Nature Conservancy, aims to create age diversity throughout the forested area of the Glades, a critical conservation area in the Central Appalachian Forest, and vital habitat of many animal species.
Maryland:The Greenbury Point Reforestation Project will work with the Naval Academy Athletic Association to restore a section of the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area.
Maryland: The Urban Tree Canopy Initiative will work the Alliance for Chesapeake Bay to plant 12,000 seedlings on park, private, and institutional lands in urban area of Maryland and Virginia to reduce the urban heat island effect, and decrease the stormwater runoff that pollutes the Chesapeake Bay.
Michigan:The Pine and Waiska Watershed Headwater Riparian Planting will plant 15,000 long-lived conifers along streams in the Hiawatha National Forest to counter the effect of historic logging and enhance the cold-water fisheries habitat.
Minnesota: The Ham Lake Fire Rehabilitation Project will plant 134,000 red, white, and Jack pine trees in the Superior National Forest to benefit threatened, endangered, and sensitive species whose habitat was decimated by wildfire in 1999 and again in 2007.
Mississippi: The long-term Replant South Mississippi Partnership with the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain and the Sun Herald newspaper aims to replace the estimated 300,000 trees lost in Hurricane Katrina.
Montana: The Kraft Springs Fire Rehabilitation Project will plant 560,000 seedlings in the Custer National Forest to recover the forest habitat destroyed by the 1988 Brewer Fire and re-burned by the 2002 Kraft Springs Fire.
Nevada: The Elko Peace Park Project will plant hundreds of trees to enhance this park, which has an arboretum, labyrinth, sagebrush garden, and a peace wheel to promote world peace.
North Carolina: The Stones Creek Game Land Project will plant 63,500 containerized longleaf pine seedlings with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to enhance the water quality of the New River watershed and create wildlife habitat in the Stones Creek Game Land in North Carolina.
New York: The Floodplain Restoration & Bank Stabilization Project with Trout Unlimited will plant 1,700 trees and shrubs to improve water quality, reduce runoff and erosion, and provide shade to the Horton Brook in the Catskill State Park, which will maintain the cold water that trout in that creek depend on.
New York: The Binghamton Memorial Tree Program, in partnership with the Watson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SUNY Binghamton aims to increase the biodiversity of urban flora in the Binghamton community, and restore spaces that have been deforested.
Oregon: The 100,000 Trees in the Deschutes Project with Oregon Trout will plant 17,000 native riparian trees along the Deschutes River Basin to restore the compromised riparian habitat and protect the basin’s water quality and native fish stocks.
South Carolina: The Manchester State Forest Habitat Restoration Project with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will plant 6,000 longleaf pines and native hardwoods in a native forest to increase habitat for vulnerable bird species.
Wisconsin: The Forest Ecosystem Restoration Project on the Lower Wisconsin Riverway, in partnership with the Hardwood Forestry Fund aims to convert farmland at high risk of erosion into high-density hardwood forest in order to restore, protect, and enhance the critical river’s edge ecosystem along the Lower Wisconsin Riverway.
West Virginia: The Riparian Reforestation of Big Run with Trout Unlimited will plant around 9,000 seedlings on 15 acres of riparian and uplands along a tributary of the South Branch Potomac River in the Monongahela National Forest to improve water quality and maintain a favorable habitat for the native brook trout.
Global ReLeaf International
Cameroon:The Regeneration of Dom Community Forest with the Apiculture and Nature Conservation Organization with the will plant 50,000 trees in a village in Cameroon to restore a degraded community forest, as well as improve water quality and infiltration, and reduce erosion.
China: In 50 years, 70% of China’s mangrove forests have vanished. The long-term China Mangrove Protection Project aims to increase public awareness of conservation, restore mangrove ecosystems, and promote sustainable community development. In partnership with the Greenwild Association of Xiamen University, 200,000 trees will be planted, and 50,000 seedlings grown to ensure survival.
Guatemala: The Reforestation and Sustainable Farming Project will partner with The Alliance for International Reforestation to plant 50,000 trees in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala in order to reverse the process of deforestation and effects of slash-and-burn farming.
Malaysia: The Kinabatangan Wetland Habitat Restoration Project, in partnership with the Model Ecologically Sustainable Community Based Conservation & Tourism (MESCOT), will plant 40,000 trees to benefit wildlife species in the most significant tract of forest along the Lower Kinabatangan River in Borneo, Malaysia.
Mexico: The Mountainside Reforestation Project partners with the La Cruz Habitat Protection Project, Inc. to plant trees in the Monarch biosphere reserve in order to enhance Monarch butterfly’s over-wintering grounds in rural Mexico, while also improving sustainable forestry practices in nearby villages.
Paraguay: The Libertad del Sure Reforestation Project partners with Asociacion Guyra Paraguay to create a conservation corridor in order to maintain the genetic flow between high biodiversity forest remnants in the decimated Atlantic Forest in Paraguay.
Peru: The Reforestation of the Peruvian Coastal Belt works with the Trees For Cities organization to halt and reverse desertification of the areas surrounding the city of Ica in Peru’s southern coastal belt through a program of reforestation, public education, and community engagement.
American Forests, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit announced that its Global ReLeaf program will plant 3.2 million trees in 2009 to help restore forests important for endangered wildlife, clean water, and carbon sequestration.