The Greater Modesto Tree Foundation owes its origins to a French photographer who came to town in 1999 wanting to photograph the largest and most unique trees. He had a contract with Fuji Film and had heard about Modesto’s fame as a Tree City.

Chuck Gilstrap, who became the foundation’s first president, recalls the story. Gilstrap, then the city’s superintendent of urban forestry, and Peter Cowles, director of public works, took the photographer around to shoot trees.

Later when Gilstrap was helping the photographer get ready to leave town, the photographer said in very broken English, “How can we plant a tree for every baby born in the world for the year 2000?”

Gilstrap mentioned the conversation to Cowles, who said, “Even though we couldn’t plant a tree for every child born in 2000, maybe we could do it for every child born in Modesto.”

Parents and grandparents loved the idea. A year later, thanks to a federal Millennium Green grant and hundreds of volunteers, the fledgling group had planted 2,000 trees (because it was the year 2000) along a mile-and-a-half stretch of Dry Creek Regional Park Riparian Basin, a tributary of the Tuolomne River that runs through the southern part of town.

The organization applied for non-profit status soon after and continued its “Trees for Tots” program. Trees for Tots continues to be the largest tree planting program organized by the foundation, with more than 4,600 Valley Oaks planted to date. The funding comes from California ReLeaf grants.

Kerry Elms, GMTF's President, plants a tree at a Stanislaus Shade Tree Partnership event in 2009.

6,000 Trees

In the 10 years of its existence, the Greater Modesto Tree Foundation has planted over 6,000 trees, according to current president Kerry Elms (perhaps an appropriate name).

“We are an all-volunteer group and, except for an insurance policy and the cost of maintaining our web site, all donations and membership fees are used to provide trees for our various programs,” he said. “All work related to our projects is performed by our members and community volunteers. We have a large number of groups (Boy and Girl Scouts, schools, churches, civic groups and many other volunteers) that assist with planting and other efforts. Our volunteers have totaled over 2,000 since we began.”

Elms said they never have trouble getting volunteers. Youth groups are especially encouraged to get involved. The City of Modesto is a strong partner in many of the foundation’s planting projects.

Stanislaus Shade Tree Partnership

The foundation plants nearly 40 trees five times a year as part of the Stanislaus Shade Tree Partnership, which plants shade trees in low income neighborhoods. From its beginning, the organization has created wonderful partnerships, and this project is done in conjunction with the Modesto Irrigation District (MID), the Sheriff’s Department, Police Department, City Urban Forestry Division and many volunteers.

The foundation sends out its arborist a week before the planting to make sure the tree size and site are appropriate (not on the north side or too close to the homes). MID buys the trees And the Sheriff’s Department delivers them. Each home can receive up to five trees.

“The reason MID is supporting this effort is that if the trees are planted appropriately, they will shade the home, causing a 30 percent energy savings with less air conditioning needed in the hot summer months,” said Ken Hanigan, public benefits coordinator for MID. “We have found that the homeowner needs to have an invested interest and then the family will have more of a tendency to maintain the trees. Therefore, the family is required to dig the holes.

“It is a feat of love and community effort that is just amazing,” Hanigan said.

Memorial Plantings

The foundation makes it possible for memorial or living testimonial trees to be planted in honor of friends or family. The foundation provides the tree and a certificate and helps the donor to select the variety and location of the tree. The donors provide the funding.

Greater Modesto Tree Foundation volunteers plant a tree during Jewish Arbor Day festivities.

These dedications are heart warming for the donors, and they can have interesting backgrounds. Elms recounted a recent planting on a golf course. A group of men had played golf for many years on the course and when one of the members died, the others decided to honor him by replacing a tree that had fallen on the course after the flood of 1998. The spot they chose was right on the turn of a fairway that had always been in the way of the golfers. When the tree is grown, many other golfers will be challenged by that tree.

Grow Out Center

In an effort to grow their own trees, the foundation has collaborated with the Sheriff’s Department Honor Farm, which trains low-risk offenders to plant and care for seedlings until they are large enough to plant.

The foundation also distributes and plants trees on Earth Day, Arbor Day and Jewish Arbor Day.

Modesto has been a Tree City for 30 years, and the community takes pride in its urban forest. But, as in all California cities, Modesto has been under severe financial stress for the last several years and no longer has the staff or funding for some of its park and tree maintenance.

The Greater Modesto Tree Foundation and its many volunteers try to fill the gap where they can.

Donna Orozco is a freelance writer based in Visalia, California.

On the same website, and in the procedural guidelines, you will find a map and listing for their Regional Urban Foresters. They can answer any questions you may have about these grant opportunities.

From the BBC: Calls to Green the “Concrete Jungle”

Who: Learn from one of California’s experts in urban greening: Dr. Desiree Backman, Deputy Director, Sacramento Tree Foundation

When: Thursday, July 15 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. (feel free to bring your own lunch)

Where: California Department of Public Health

Pine Room, Building 171

1501 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento

If you are not able to attend in person, you may join this meeting via a conference call. To join, call (916) 556-1508. When prompted for the conference code, please enter 322584 on your telephone keypad.

Note: workshop attendees that are not California Department of Public Health employees, please allow an extra 5-10 minutes to check in with security.

RSVP: Kathleen Farren Ford

California ReLeaf

916.497.0036

kfarren@californiareleaf.org

Brought to you by California ReLeaf, the California Department of Public Health, the Sacramento Tree Foundation, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Urban Forestry Program.

All you need to vote is a personal email address and 60 seconds. (Your Forest Service email address won’t work.) Please vote for us and pass the link along to friends and family too. The voting deadline has been extended to Tuesday, June 15.

1. Go to http://www.justmeans.com/contestidea?ideaid=NDUz and click on “VOTE”

2. Create an account by giving your name and personal email address (fs.fed.us won’t work). Make up a password.

3. Check your personal email, and click on the link to activate your account. You have now voted for Vallejo!

Our two future USDA People’s Garden locations on Mare Island will be a fantastic way to raise the Forest Service’s visibility in Vallejo and to make the RO a more engaged citizen of the city. To see the site of the first garden, please stop by for a few minutes after work on Monday, June 14. It’s directly on your way home from work, just one mile from the RO. See attached flier.

Thanks for voting, and we hope to see you on Monday after work!

Amanda

________________________________________

Amanda Jane Cundiff

U.S. Forest Service

Partnership Coordinator for the Pacific Southwest Region

California ReLeaf

2112 Tenth Street, Sacramento, CA  95818

Joe Liszewski (916) 497-0034

Ashley Mastin (916) 497-0037

Kathleen Ford (916) 497-0036

FAX (916) 497-0038

The Arbor Day Foundation and The Alliance for Community Trees are pleased to announce the City Teams partnership program. Through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program, the City Teams partnership program promotes the development of sustainable community partnerships within the urban forest community by encouraging two-person teams to develop mutually-beneficial collaborative goals around their community trees. The Alliance for Community Trees will select from their membership proposals seven (7) two-person City Teams to participate in this program and attend the Partners in Community Forestry National Conference for two consecutive years in support of their partnership.

City Teams selected for participation will:

• Receive a travel stipend and conference registration to attend the 2010 and 2011 Partners in Community Forestry National Conference.

• Submit pre and post conference goals regarding how your City Team wants to advance urban forest management and programs for your area.

• Report on progress periodically during the program.

• Participate in surveys regarding the program.

The application site will be open from April 15 until June 4, 2010, at www.arborday.org/shopping/conferences/cityTeams and selected teams will be notified by August 1, 2010.

Apply Now!

A Goleta Valley Beautiful volunteer assists at a tree planting event.

We all know how valuable volunteers are to the nonprofit work done in urban forestry. Many of us would say that volunteers are priceless. But for accounting purposes on many financial forms, grant proposals and annual reports, we have to assign a monetary value to the work volunteers do.

Every year the Bureau of Labor Satistics quantifies that value for a non-management, non-agriculutural worker. The Bureau also quantifies hourly wages by occupation that can be used to determine the value of specialed skill. The national estimated dollar value of volunteer services  for 2009 is $20.85 – up 60 cents from last year. The 2008 rate for California is $23.29, but value maybe increased later due to a lag in the release of state statistics.

For more information about when and how to use dollar values for volunteer hours worked, visit the Indepent Sector’s website.