Upcoming Public Service Project

30th Annual Water Law Conference - Public Service Project (Tree Planting)
February 22-24, 2012 | Westin San Diego | San Diego, CA

Tree-planting in Balboa Park, North America's Largest Urban Park
We will plant trees in Balboa Park, North America’s largest urban park and located minutes from downtown San Diego. The park was ranked among the Best Parks in the World by the Project for Public Places in 2003 for its mixture of horticulture, art, and culture. Attendees are invited to join in this urban tree planting event as part of the management and maintenance of the park. Whether you are new to planting or have a green thumb, this event is an opportunity to contribute to the Section’s One Million Trees Project. For more information on the Section’s One Million Trees Project. To volunteer, note your participation on the registration form. For more information, contact Julie Connell, Program Assistant, at Julie.Connell@americanbar.org.

THE RIGHT TREE FOR THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

Trees are important to the environment through their ability to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide and also contribute to the overall health of communities, wildlife and aesthetics. Therefore, the Section is sponsoring the "One Million Trees Project - Right Tree for the Right Place at the Right Time" nationwide public service project. Begun in March 2009, the project calls on ABA members to contribute to the goal of planting one million trees across the United States by 2014 – both by planting trees themselves and by contributing to the partner tree organizations identified on this page. SEER also intends through public outreach and partnering efforts, to raise the nation's awareness of the multiple benefits of trees and their role in helping to fight climate change. Members of SEER are constantly engaging in publicity and educational outreach efforts.

A key aspect of the project is ABA SEER’s partnerships with well recognized tree-planting organizations, including Alliance for Community Trees, The Arbor Day Foundation, Tree Link/Tree Bank, American Forests, and the Institute for Environmental Solutions. Members are encouraged to get involved in hands-on tree planting activities in their communities in addition to purchasing a tree or trees through the program partners.

Tree Planting Projects
Since the One Million Trees project began in 2009, the Section has sponsored plantings at each of its major events, beginning with the Fall Meeting in 2009. In the spring of 2011, the Section sponsored or co-sponsored plantings in seven cities around the country. Thousands of trees have been planted through these activities.

For More Information
To speak with someone about this project, please contact any of the public service vice chairs from any of the participating Section committees listed to the right. The committee home page and leadership listings are linked from the committee name.

To participate in this project please visit any of the information pages at our partners’ websites.

ABA SEER TREE PLANTING PROJECT: PARTNERS

The ABA SEER’s Partners for Planting Trees:

The Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) is dedicated to improving the health and livability of cities by planting and caring for trees. With 160 grassroots affiliates in 40 states and Canada, ACT engages volunteers to take action to improve the environment where 80% of people live – in urban areas. ACT member organizations have planted and cared for 14.9 million trees in cities with help from 4.3 million volunteers. ABA and ACT are partnering to inspire the planting of one million trees nationwide. Get involved by making a donation to plant a tree, or volunteer with one of ACT's local tree planting groups by visiting here.

American Forests is a nonprofit conservation organization working with individuals, communities, and policy makers to protect and restore forest ecosystems since 1875. It is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to grow a healthier world with trees. The Global Releaf tree-planting program works with local organizations and agencies to plant native trees in damaged ecosystems across the globe. These trees provide cleaner air and water, habitats for endangered species, and reduce the effects of climate change on our planet. Every dollar donated plants a tree. So far, this project has planted over 25 million trees. Visit www.americanforests.org/aba and discover more ways in which to participate.

The Arbor Day Foundation is the largest nonprofit tree-planting organization in the country, with nearly one million members nationwide. The mission of the Foundation is to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. Founded in 1972, the Foundation has a global impact. This year alone, the Foundation will distribute and plant more than 15 million trees across the United States and around the world. The Foundation provides many ways for members, organizations and corporate partners to plant trees in neighborhoods, communities, and in our nation’s forests. Through the Arbor Day Foundation’s current efforts and partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, supporters are able to plant trees through their donations in forests that have been devastated by wildfires, insects or disease. Visit www.arborday.org/aba to learn more about how you can help.

The Black Bear Conservation Coalition (BBCC) works to restore the threatened Louisiana black bear population in its historic range through education, research and habitat management. Habitat management efforts focus on the replanting and reforestation of bottomland hardwood forests in the bear's historic range of Louisiana, Mississippi, east Texas and southern Arkansas. Since 1992, through effective partnerships, the BBCC has helped put over 800,000 acres back into trees for the benefit of wildlife and human populations, improving air quality and watershed management in so doing. Reforestation to create bear habitat and forested corridors between isolated bear populations provides habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife, including migratory bird species on their annual trek. The recovery of the bear is the catalyst for landscape scale habitat recovery in one of the most important ecosystems in the country: the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The Atchafalaya, Ouachita, Red, and Neches Rivers are also the focus of replanting. To help the BBCC, a nonprofit organization, plant native species trees, visit http://www.bbcc.org/abamillion/default.aspx. A tree will be planted for every dollar donated.

The TreeBank program was created by TreeLink to enable support for local community tree planting, care and education. TreeBank is a web-based tool that enables any city to develop a community fund for tree planting, care and education. Customized specifically for urban forestry initiatives, TreeBank provides cooperative marketing with a plug-and-play donation system. TreeBank donors can self-direct their contributions to the local TreeBank "branch" in their communities of choice. In this way, TreeBank harnesses the green intentions of donors and accelerates the missions of tree organizations. Visit www.itreebank.org and donate to your local urban forest.”

TreeLink is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness and enable support for healthy urban and community forests. Its goal is long-term impact in urbanized areas. The goal is accomplished by providing information networking and communications tools for urban forestry professionals, nonprofits, government, academics, researchers and the public at large. This is done through resources for education and public policy, best practices, access to government-funded research on all aspects of tree and forest biology, planting guides, volunteer opportunities, listserves and links to other tree-related organizations, information and activities. Visit www.treelink.org – a resource center of inspiration, communication and information.