Author: Site Owner

By Lindsey Putz, Director of Corporate Giving

Attending the GreenBiz 2018 conference was my first trip to Arizona. I grew up in Michigan and currently reside in D.C. While both places are beautiful, escaping the winter for a week in Phoenix was a welcomed opportunity. I left 30-degree weather combined with rain and humidity in D.C., and flew into 70-degree, sunny and dry weather. I wasn’t complaining!

Thanks to GreenBiz and Clif Bar’s support, American Forests had the opportunity to host a native desert restoration planting for conference attendees at the North Mountain Park Visitor Center at the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Our awesome local partners, Phoenix Parks and Recreation and the Arizona Sustainability Alliance, put together a really fun day for everyone.

I was skeptical when I found out in advance that we would be planting cacti. How does one plant the prickly cacti? The answer is, carefully.

A group of 25 conference attendees from various industries and departments came together to plant almost 75 native trees, cacti and other vegetation. We all listened intently as we were taught how to wrap a rubber hose around a cactus, lift it up and hold it in place, while other volunteers set rocky soil around it.

Then we broke out into groups to get our hands dirty.

Our group leader, Kathy, corrected our mistakes as we clumsily planted a small saguaro cactus. She also shared the many ecological benefits of the saguaro with us. Its flowers and seeds are a food source for small animals, birds can build nests in it, and it is efficient at storing carbon dioxide.

As one of the other volunteers in my group accurately described it, the saguaro is like the sea anemone of the desert. It protects birds nesting in it from larger predators with its spiky exterior.

Who knew? Well, probably most folks from the Southwest, but certainly not this Midwesterner.

As we continued planting, Kathy frequently reminded us to stay hydrated. As she put it, “If you’re thirsty, you’re already behind.”

The event was empowering, informative, fun and challenging. We wrapped up the day with delicious Clif Bars and a group photo, got back on the bus and talked about our planting experiences. From what I heard on our bus ride home, I wasn’t the only tree advocate in the group.

There were a lot of smiles and new friendships formed, and all of us had learned new, interesting facts about the desert landscape. We took pride in what we were able to do for the environment. We felt more content to spend the rest of the day sitting in conference sessions.

I have been working with American Forests for nearly two years, and my passion for our work grows every day. Being a part of this planting opportunity took my passion for trees to a whole new height.

I encourage anyone who has thought about planting trees, but hasn’t had the opportunity yet, to do so either at home or through work. American Forests has many employee engagement opportunities for you and your coworkers to get involved!

By Devon Kellums, American Forests

In the suburbs of Chicago where I grew up, I wasn’t exactly surrounded by forests. However, I was lucky enough to have parents who were determined to get me outdoors to experience all of what nature has to offer. Whenever I started to feel bored over a long summer break, my parents would encourage me to walk to the nearest forest preserve.

Credit: Devon Kellums, American Forests Multimedia Intern

I spent many days exploring Leroy Oaks, a forest preserve about a mile away from my house. I was always either taking photos or walking our dogs along the paths. I felt at peace among the trickling creeks and the rustling leaves. It was a place for me to get away from the sounds of cars rushing by or the bustle of my own house.

My family also recognized the importance of traveling to experience new landscapes. When I was in middle school, we went on a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. I was utterly amazed by the powerful geysers, the vibrant hot springs, and the diversity of the animals. I yearned to go back as soon as I left, and luckily, I was able to do so before my senior year of high school.

Credit: Devon Kellums

I immediately noticed some changes during our first hike. Some of the vegetation wasn’t as vibrant. More of the trees were dying. I didn’t see nearly as many animals as I had before. That’s when I realized the seriousness of climate change, and felt the need to do something to help our environment.

Yellowstone will always amaze me, and I will always want to go back. The park has so much to offer, and it has an incredible history behind it. On that second trip, I stood in the exact spot as Ansel Adams did when he took one of his famous photos.

Credit: Ansel Adams

As I set up my camera to take the same shot as him, I felt passion, peacefulness and awe well up inside of me. Ansel Adams had worked to raise awareness for the importance of nature and preserving our national parks. He’s also been my long time inspiration, and a big motivator for me to take photography classes. When I snapped a photo in the same spot as this amazing photographer, I knew I wanted to continue in his footsteps.

I came to D.C. through the Scripps in D.C. program offered at Ohio University. It includes a ten-week long, full-time internship for visual communication and journalism students. As a junior studying Commercial Photography, this program was the right fit for me.

I knew I wanted to make the most of my time here in D.C., and I didn’t want to work just anywhere. While perusing different internships online, I found one with American Forests. When I saw on their website that they were trying to save the grizzly bear habitat in Yellowstone, I instantly thought of my last visit there.

Credit: Devon Kellums

It seemed like a sign.

The work American Forests does is incredibly important, which is why I have joined them as a Multimedia Intern. I have a passion for visual communication and a love for nature, so this internship seemed like the ideal way to bring them together. I also like to think this experience will help me follow in Ansel Adams’ footsteps. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I am excited to be part of a team that’s making a difference!

Check out what’s happened this week in forestry news!

Peru Moves to Protect ‘One of the Last Great Intact Forests’ – The New York Times

Yaguas National Park, located in northeastern Peru, will protect millions of acres of wilderness from development and deforestation. The land it covers is home to a diverse number of fish, plant, bird and mammal species (including the endangered giant otter), many of which can’t be found anywhere else in the world. It was recently discovered that the park also has peat bogs, which form a network that stores massive amounts of carbon and could play an important role in reducing carbon emissions.

Vast bioenergy plantations could stave off climate change – and radically reshape the planet – Science Magazine

Researchers have discovered that cutting down on emissions isn’t enough to effectively reduce global warming. To make a difference, negative emissions technologies need to be developed and used to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One technique, known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage is at the forefront of these technologies. It involves cultivating fast-growing grasses and trees to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They would then be burned at power plants to generate energy, but instead of releasing the vegetation’s carbon into the atmosphere, it would be captured and pumped underground.

Consumer and industrial products now a dominant air pollution source – Phys.org

Chemical products containing refined petroleum compounds now rival vehicle emissions as the top source of urban air pollution. Products like household cleaners, pesticides, paints, perfumes, lotions and other products contribute about as much to air pollution as vehicle emissions do.

Hunting is changing forests, but not as expected – Science Daily

Most trees in the rainforest depend on animals to spread their seeds, either through consumption or by sticking to their fur. Originally it was thought that the decrease in fruit-eating animals by over-hunting would result in altered forest makeup and huge decreases in the amount of carbon stored in tropical forests. A new study of the Amazon rainforest published in the Journal of Ecology has determined the effects of losing seed dispersers on the ecosystem are less straightforward, and less immediately devastating.