2011 Award Recipients
Government Award:
Oregon Department of Transportation – Region 1
This project is innovative in many ways. ODOT – known traditionally as a large bureaucracy and a ‘highway agency’ – is partnering creatively with a non-profit, grassroots and community organizing/building organization on livability, green infrastructure, equity and alternative transportation improvements. The project has been successful in reaching out and involving neighborhoods, community organizations, the public and environmental organizations who traditionally have been critical of ODOT. The project is investing in increasing the urban canopy in our region and the plantings provide the forum for not only increasing green infrastructure but for building communities and connecting diverse people.
Thank you - “October 2010-April 2011 was the second planting season of the three-year partnership among the Oregon Department of Transportation, Friends of Trees, and Metro to guide community volunteers in planting thousands of trees along the 16.5-mile I-205 Multi-Use Path–from the Columbia River in north Portland south to Gladstone. The path is used by bicyclists, pedestrians and transit users, and it intersects through some of Portland’s most culturally and economically diverse neighborhoods. To date, hundreds of volunteers have planted about 4,000 trees and shrubs to reduce air pollution, increase neighborhood livability, provide habitat for wildlife and songbirds, and beautify a well-traveled transportation corridor. The project is being touted as a statewide model for greening existing ODOT right-of-way. The following Friends of Trees partners have also provided generous support for the I-205 greening project. Thank goes to: East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., IKEA, Cantel Sweeping, Collier Arbor Care, HSBC Bank USA, Portland General Electric, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, REI, The Standard, Portland Development Commission, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, Worksystems Inc., the Portland Trail Blazers, the Portland Timbers and to the many community volunteers.”
Civic Organization Award:
Portland Fruit Tree Project
Portland Fruit Tree Project is a grass-roots non-profit organization that provides a community-based solution to a critical and growing need in Portland and beyond: Access to healthy food. By empowering neighbors to share in the harvest and care of urban fruit trees, we are preventing waste, building community knowledge and resources, and creating sustainable, cost-free ways to obtain healthy, locally-grown food. Because money doesn’t grow on trees… but fruit does! We organize people to gather fruit before it falls, and make it available to those who need it most. We register fruit and nut trees throughout the city, bring people together to harvest and distribute thousands of pounds of fresh fruit each year, and teach tree care and food preservation in hands-on workshops.
Thank you - ”The Portland Fruit Tree Project is very grateful for this award, and would like to thank OCT for this honor. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers and supporters, Portland Fruit Tree Project is able to harvest thousands of pounds of fresh fruit that would otherwise go to waste each year, make healthy food available to those who need it most, increase the health and productivity of urban fruit trees, and build community knowledge. We are proud to be one of the organizations recognized for bringing people together to enhance the health and sustainability of Oregon’s diverse communities and ecosystems.”
Oregon Tree City of the Year Award:
City of Salem
In 2012, The City of Salem will receive its 35th consecutive Tree City USA Award. Salem is one of only 17 cities in the country to have received this award every year since the program’s inception in 1975.
Professional Award:
Carla Staedter – Water Quality Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator City of Tigard
While CWS (Clean Water Streams) program was nominated originally, it has been suggested that this should be an individual award for Carla. While she was hired to manage this program, it is her dedication, drive, organization, out-going personality and spirit that has contributed greatly to its success. She motivates volunteers with her personal enthusiasm and well-organized events. She has been in this position for around 7 years (?) and the program continues to grow in terms of accomplishments and volunteer hours because of her dedication. The programs purpose is to improve water quality, native habitat for wildlife and people, and removal of invasives.
Thank you - “The City of Tigard is well on its way to having healthy riparian forests. This work is the result of hundreds of people pulling together with a common goal to implement the Healthy Streams Plan. From the regulators at the federal and state level that allow riparian restoration to serve as a tool to cool our streams; to the Clean Water Services staff that pioneered the Healthy Streams Plan and developed the infrastructure to support restoration; to the volunteers, non-profit groups, and corporations, who come to install and maintain native plants; it is one large community effort focused on water quality and environmental health. I am very humbled to accept this award as one of hundreds who restore and care for Tigard’s riparian forests.”
President’s Award:
Alan Tocchini - AlTo Forestry Consulting, Oregon State Parks (Ret.)
Alan Tocchini is one of the original members of the Oregon Urban and Community Forest Council, now known as Oregon Community Trees. In his role as Parks Forester with Oregon State Parks, Al attended the first meeting of state urban forestry leaders in April 1991. Al was elected to the first board of directors of the new non-profit Oregon Community Trees (OCT) and served on the executive committee and as Treasurer for 15 years. After retiring from Oregon State Parks, Al remained on the board to share passion for trees and commitment to support a strong state-wide organization. Al is also a long time member of the State Heritage Tree Committee. Al has been a steadfast advocate for protecting Oregon trees and an untiring ambassador for urban and forestry.
Thank you - “I am still as stunned and humbled as I was when I received the call from fellow OCT board member Mark Snyder to congratulate me on being nominated and selected to receive this award. Although my professional focus has been in “rural” forestry, I have always been in awe of the people who work in urban and community forestry. You make life better for everybody, because you care about the quality of life for our fellow citizens, and you use your interest in and knowledge of trees and the environment in that endeavor. My part as a board member of Oregon Community Trees has been mostly serving in the board business end. Beyond that, it has been a “receiving” experience, as I have enjoyed the association and friendship with some of the finest people there are, have learned a great deal and have had more-than-my-share of fun in doing so. Thank you for this recognition.”
2010 Award Recipients
Citizen Volunteer and Civic Organization Award:
Roberta Schwarz and the White Oak Committee
Roberta Schwarz of West Linn is being recognized in the volunteer category for her work with the White Oak Committee over four years, raising over a million dollars to purchase and preserve part of a rare Oregon white oak savanna property ripe for development. The committee itself is also being honored as an award recipient in the ‘Civic Organization’ category. Senator Richard Devlin and Representative Scott Brunn both sent letters of nomination and support for this project.
Professional Award:
Nancy Buley
Nancy Buley, Marketing and Communications Director for J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., one of Oregon’s, and the nation’s premier nurseries, will be honored with a Professional category award for her years of tireless advocacy for trees. She recently completed a visit to all of Oregon’s congressional and senate offices in Washington, D.C., lobbying for tree planting legislation with the Alliance for Community Trees and Portland’s Friends of Trees.
Development Award:
Pringle Creek Community, Salem
The Pringle Creek Community of Salem is recipient of an urban forestry award in the Development category. The community successfully preserved more than eighty percent of the site’s existing trees during development. The community is being recognized for its innovative approaches to trees, landscaping, and homebuilding. James Santana, Director of Development, will accept the award.
Government Award:
Clean Water Services – Randy Lawrence
Randy Lawrence and Clean Water Services earned an urban forestry award in the government category for their strong track record in tree planting in the Tualatin River Watershed. Lawrence’s “Tree for All” program set an unusual goal to plant 2 million trees in 20 years in the Tualatin River watershed, and they are currently ahead of schedule.
President’s Award:
Ed Jensen
Ed Jensen, who serves as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, is receiving the President’s Award for his long record of accomplishment in the fields of education, outreach, and advocacy. Jensen advises and educates students, and is a co-author of the popular color-illustrated handbook “Trees to Know in Oregon.” Jensen also develops, conducts, and evaluates natural resource education programs for various audiences at the college. Oregon State University dean Hal Salwasser calls Jensen “an exceptional teacher and mentor who makes trees the focus of his talents.”
Professional Award:
Jennifer Wilson and the Wetlands Conservancy
Jennifer Wilson of Tualatin is the recipient of a 2010 Oregon Urban and Community Forestry award in the professional category. The Wetlands Conservancy planted more than 10,000 bare root native wetland species, shrubs, and plants – as well as 5,000 willow and dogwood cuttings this past spring. “Jennifer has a passion for opening the eyes of children to the natural world around them,” adds Rick Zenn, president of Oregon Community Trees.
Business Award:
Ascending the Giants
Ascending the Giants is an ongoing series of expeditions led by two arborists, Brian French and Will Koomjian, to measure the largest tree of each species. The team is able to capture some of the first and only footage inside the canopies of these remarkable trees. For its cutting edge photographic and video work at sharing the stories of the ecological importance of champion trees, Ascending the Giants will receive OCT’s Business category award.
Oregon Tree City of the Year Award:
McMinnville
OCT’s efforts to advocate for planting and caring for trees in the state extends to wanting to give special recognition to those cities who take extra steps to assure trees are planted, protected and maintained in their communities. McMinnville, host of OCT’s March quarterly board meeting, is the 2010 winner of the Oregon Tree City of the Year award. Mayor Rick Olson and Planning Director Doug Montgomery both work hard to assure that this historic community keeps its charm and attractive livability by caring for its tree resources.
