What does it take to become a tree steward?
Just an admiration for trees and a way to put it to work. It doesn't require being an adult, as 6-year-old Jensen Daly of Burlington can verify.
Jensen is the the youngest Vermonter to receive a TreeSteward Award form the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Council in the 12-year history of the awards.Jensen did not set out to win an award. When his mother asked what he would like as a theme for his birthday party last spring, he said, "nature". The idea of planting a tree soon followed.
They contacted Margaret Skinner, president of Branch Out Burlington! and she told them about the honorary tree program that would be an ideal fit for Jensen's initiative.
"I like trees because they help the Earth. They take away the bad stuff in the air, and they look cool. I have another tree in my backyard from when I was born." His family has a tradition of planting a tree for each child -- Jensen and his younger brother and sister, Karl and Medea.
Jensen's father, John Daly, sponsored a street tree in his hometown of Steamboat Springs, CO., when he was a boy. "Some day when Jensen's my age, he can say, 'There's my tree' just as I still do after 25 years." Governor Jim Douglas presented the award at a ceremony in Montpelier on December 10th.
excerpt from Free Press article by Dorothy Pellett.
Please visit the website of our local "friends"
Branch Out Burlington’s 10th annual tree walk is Saturday, June 13th. We will be meeting at the Burlington Parks and Rec Building, North Parking Lot, at 645 Pine Street. Learn more . . .
BOB! will be hosting a screening of this inspiring film on April 3rd at the Robert Miller Community and Recreation Center at 130 Gosse Court. This film tells the story of the Green Belt Movement of Kenya and its founder Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist and first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Starting with the simple act of planting trees, Maathai organized rural women to work successively against deforestation, poverty, and violent political oppression until they became a political force that helped bring down Kenya’s 24-year dictatorship. An inspiration for us all! This film was produced and directed by Alan Dater and Lisa Merton of Brattleboro, Vermont. Film will be shown at 7:00 pm. Brief discussion afterwards with drinks and desserts available by donation. Learn more . . .
The February-March issue of Organic Gardening magazine ranks Burlington as one of "America's Greenest Cities" -- those U.S. cities that are "leading the way toward a more sustainable future." The magazine ranks Burlington second among small cities of less than 150,000 residents.
The comparative ranking considered air and water quality; green space; city policies on climate change; the availability and use of locally grown food; the number of gardens; the percentage of residents walking, biking or using buses to get to work; and the number of green certified buildings.
The magazine noted Burlington's Intervale, the 10 percent challenge to reduce greenhouse gases and the city's master forestry plan.
Click here to view 2007 Burlington City Tree Planting at Lakeside Neighborhood
Join a dedicated group of volunteers at Branch Out Burlington! (also known as BOB!).
Together with the City Arborist, Our Tree Keepers work each year to increase the number of trees and to improve our precious green spaces. If you are interested in having a tree in front of your house, and are willing to learn about tree care and water your tree, please get in touch with us. We want YOU! To learn more . . .
"People who live in Burlington’s neighborhoods are often proud of the natural beauty -- especially the trees. Broad leafy trees, quietly celebrating the cycle of the seasons from bud to green to orange and crimson to dust, and returning to bud once again. And tall evergreen trees exist, stalwart and vibrant with life, even throughout the depths of winter’s snows. If community is the heart of a city, then trees must surely be its lungs."