Here's what's new
The latest news and education information from OCT
- Hiroshima peace tree documentary nears completion
- Five Oregon cities get grants from OCT to boost their Arbor Month activities
- OCT names a new president
Documentary about Hiroshima peace trees in Oregon is nearing completion
Portland filmmaker David Hedberg is making a documentary capturing the effort that led to four dozen Hiroshima peace trees being planted in Oregon. He intends to show the trees' meaning, the homes they've found around the state, and the people whose lives they've touched.
OCT's 2025 Grant Awardees
Five cities across Oregon recieved grant awards from OCT. to help boost their Oregon Arbor Month activities. Read more about the 2025 recipients.
OCT elects a new president
Longtime OCT board member Jim Gersbach of Portland was elected president of Oregon Community Trees at the boards March 7, 2025 meeting in Salem. Gersbach, who was born in Oregon, was nominated by outgoing president Tyler Roth. He is the founder of the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum in Portland, a senior planting and pruning crew leader with Friends of Trees, a founding member of Trees for Life Oregon, and an occasional guide at Hoyt Arboretum. He most recently helped a collection of trees at the former Meek Elementary School in Portland win official recognition as a Level 1 Arboretum.
Portland Filmmaker Documents Peace Tree Journey
April 10, 2025
Oregon Community Trees has been supporting Portland filmmaker David Hedberg to make a documentary about the effort to plant peace trees in Oregon and the impact that has had on communities across the state. The trees were grown from seeds collected from trees in Hiroshima that survived the atom bombing of that city in 1945. Volunteers with Green Legacy Hiroshima collect the seeds and distribute them worldwide as ambassadors of peace and reconciliation.
Between late 2019 and spring 2024 about four dozen Hiroshima peace trees were planted across Oregon, from the coast to the Wallowas, and from the Columbia Gorge to the California border. The trees were welcomed at schools, universities, churches, parks, arboreta, cemeteries, and even the Oregon State Prison. Hedberg captured many of the plantings and dedications as part of a documentary he planned about the project called "Seeds of Peace."
Hedberg traveled to Hiroshima in November 2023 to give Japanese audiences a preview of the unfinished documentary. While there he was able to come face to face with the mother trees of the Oregon seedlings.
Filming is now complete and in the editing stages. Hedberg says he plans to screen the completed documentary in film festivals in fall 2025, and then show it in many of the three dozen Oregon cities and towns that have planted peace trees. Look for screening dates to be announced late this year.
Find additional details on Hedberg and the project here.
