Watch a 6-minute trailer for the DVD "Planting the Vision" below.
> Watch the Natural Heroes Fruit Tree Tour Promo on the Natural Heroes site
A couple elegant, tall, stately trees are my constant companions as I type to you. When my eyes need a break from the computer screen, they turn to these two friends. I watch their leaves dance in the wind. And turn a million shades of green as the seasons give them new life, abundant growth and then sap their maturity and cause them to flutter to the ground in the late summer and autumn breezes.
Yes, I love trees. Not just because of their beauty...but because the more I learn about trees, the more I admire their everyday work, their community spirit and their productivity. They take sunshine and rain from the sky and turn it into food for butterflies and birds and mammals and yes, us.
They crack rocks open with their delicate new roots. They create pathways for water and nutrients to filter down into deeper and deeper layers of soil. And then they shed their leaves annually to create compost and new soil.
Trees give shade. They give fruit and nuts. They give twigs to the birds to build nests. They give deer scratching posts. They cradle homes in their branches for birds and beetles and spiders and lizards... and some even grow in swamps and lakes and give homes to fish and frogs and snakes.
Tall trees like redwoods pump moisture up to the tipty tops of their branches further than engineers have been able to duplicate with our high tech pumps.
... have you caught the tree fever yet? Do you have a favorite friend outside your windows that gives you graceful, gentle respite? I hope you do...and if you don't, I hope you will plant one and watch it grow into a stately young adult...rejoicing with it every season and dancing with it on every breeze!
California ReLeaf monitors state and federal legislation in order to inform the urban forestry community of opportunities to influence public policy on behalf of urban trees.
In 2006 California ReLeaf hired a professional lobbyist to assist with its state-level efforts. As a result of its work, $20 million was designated for urban forestry programs under California Proposition 84 passed in 2006.
California Releaf also coordinates California ReLeaf Network, an alliance of urban forestry groups throughout the state. This alliance has been instrumental in raising the profile of urban forestry in the state and a key part of California ReLeaf's advocacy strategy.
BACKGROUND
California ReLeaf was founded in 1989 as a program of the Trust for Public Land and was incorporated as a separate 501c3 nonprofit in 2004.
California ReLeaf works statewide to promote alliances among community-based groups, individuals and government agencies to protect the environment by planting and caring for trees. It also serves as the state's volunteer coordinator for urban forestry in partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Programs and services include:
* Coordinating California ReLeaf Network, a statewide alliance of urban forestry groups
* Administering a state grant program
* Publishing a quarterly newsletter, California Trees
* Providing assistance, information and referrals to individuals, organizations and agencies on urban forestry management issues
* Monitoring state and federal legislation and keeping the urban
forestry community informed of opportunities to influence public policy
on urban forestry
COMPONENTS
Hiring a professional lobbyist
From its inception, California ReLeaf was involved in advocating on
behalf of urban forestry. In 2006, California ReLeaf decided that
hiring a professional lobbyist would greatly improve effectiveness at
influencing state legislation on urban forestry.
Since California is a large state with a wide range of environmental issues, California ReLeaf, with a staff of three, found it difficult to stay on top of all the issues and proposals that affected urban forestry. Although California ReLeaf had many partners who worked with them on urban forestry issues, it needed someone to spearhead its efforts.
With the encouragement of other urban forestry groups, California ReLeaf hired a lobbyist who specialized in conservation issues and was willing to work with them at a reduced rate.
Martha Ozonoff, Executive Director of California ReLeaf, says that this decision has been critical in its advocacy efforts.
"Hiring a lobbyist has definitely increased our ability to be effective. You can lobby on your own. You are not required to have a professional lobbyist. But this has helped us stay on top of fast-paced decisions and has given us inside information about what different legislators are interested in and how to approach them. Our lobbyist has helped us see where we can connect to other environmental issues," Ms. Ozonoff says.
Ms. Ozonoff says whether or not your organization needs a professional lobbyist may differ from state to state. She recommends talking with larger environmental organizations in your state that have lobbyists on their staff such as the Trust for Public Land, the Nature Conservancy or the Sierra Club. Get recommendations from them on whether or not you need to hire a lobbyist and on potential candidates.
Making your case
Once the lobbyist identifies what legislation to follow and who the key
players are, California ReLeaf meets with key players including
legislators and their staff, testifies at committee hearings, sends
letters and emails, makes phone calls and encourages organizations in
the California ReLeaf network and other groups to support legislation
and other relevant initiatives, including funding propositions.
Ms. Ozonoff emphasizes that working with a network of urban forestry groups brings enormous value in supporting advocacy initiatives. California ReLeaf Network has approximately 90 member organizations located throughout the state. This allows California ReLeaf not only to harness the support of more constituents throughout the state, but also helps them target voters in specific localities where key legislators reside.
Funding
California ReLeaf funds its advocacy efforts through private foundation
monies in its general operating account. Government funds cannot be
used for lobbying.
RESULTS
California ReLeaf is particularly proud of its advocacy efforts which helped to ensure that "at least" $20 million funding was designated for urban forestry under Proposition 84 passed in 2006.
In addition, in 2007 California ReLeaf helped spearhead a letter-writing campaign thanking Governor Schwarzenegger for restoring $10 million to the Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program, which provides public funds for urban forestry and other natural resource projects that reduce the impact of transportation projects on local communities. This year, the funds are being presented as part of the Governor's budget, thereby virtually assuring their passage. California ReLeaf believes that its "thank you" campaign may have played a part in the governor's decision.
California ReLeaf is currently sponsoring a bill in the state legislature to update the state Urban Forestry Act of 1978. This will be the organization's first effort at sponsoring legislation.
LESSONS LEARNED
1. Research your state to determine whether or not you need to hire a lobbyist. California ReLeaf says hiring a lobbyist was essential for them.
2. Nonprofits CAN advocate and lobby. Don't be paralyzed by the fear of violating IRS rules. Read the regulations and get advice but remember that both advocacy and lobbying are allowed within certain limitations. The rules may not be as restrictive as you think.
3. Advocacy and lobbying is easy. Do not be intimidated by the process.
4. You are the expert on your cause and its most passionate supporter. Make use of that.
5. Remember to say thank you to all the people who support your efforts.
6. Stay on top of legislation. Understand the process and realize that changes can happen quickly and often. You need to be vigilant.
7. The benefits of advocacy are enormous. It raises the visibility of your cause and your organization. It helps refine your message and increases your organization's credibility and reputation.
Contact Information:
Martha Ozonoff, Executive Director
California ReLeaf
P.O. Box 72496
Davis, CA 95617
Phone: (530) 757-7333
Fax: (530) 757-7328
The planting was the third NeighborWoods planting of the year around the city, said Diane Losavio, executive director of Baton Rouge Green. Jared Liu, director of programs at the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Community Trees that oversees the NeighborWoods program, was on hand to help with planting and to discuss the connections between affordable housing and trees.
Liu said a landscape plan had been developed to place the right trees in the right places around the houses. A tree that provides ample shade planted close to a home can cool it down in warm weather, reducing energy costs, he said. "And shaded homes will sell faster," he added.
Losavio said volunteers planted a mixture of nuttall oaks, willow oaks, sweet olives, magnolias, red maples and crape myrtles around the houses on East Polk Street.
Residents are scheduled to move into the houses within the next few months, said Richard Murray, director of the East Baton Rouge Housing Authority. Four of the 14 houses will be rented to tenants, Murray said. The other houses will be put on the market to sell at prices ranging from $79,000 to $99,000.
Rose Netter, 62, who will be moving into a house on the corner of Polk and Kansas streets, came out to watch the planting Saturday. "I'm very emotional," Netter said. "I'm just so moved to see all the people that are helping." A first-time homeowner, Netter currently lives in her mother's house, down the street from the development. She will be moving into her new house with her daughter and granddaughter, she said.
Kristina McCray, 21, volunteered Saturday with other members of Delta Sigma Theta, a public service sorority at LSU. "I never knew how to plant trees before," she said as she spread mulch over the base of a red maple. "And it's helping the community." There were some veteran planters in the crowd, such as 17-year-old Malavika Balachandran.
Picture by Travis Spradling/The Advocate
Stephen Shurtz, left, a urban forestry and landscape manager with the
city-parish Department of Public Works, helps LSU Delta Sigma Theta
sorority members Courtney Boss, center, and Kasielynn Smith, right, as
they tug a tree out of its pot before placing it into a pre-dug hole.
The McKinley High School senior has helped out with many plantings since starting an environmental club at her school. Wearing green gloves, she and her sister, Devika Balachandran, 15, prepared the hole for the tree, breaking up clumps of clay with spades. "We didn't have to dig the holes today," Malavika said thankfully. "That takes a really long time."
Related Resources:
The Advocate
East Polk NeighborWoods Tree Planting
Baton Rouge Green
Non-native invasive plants are species whose introduction outside their ecological homes causes economic or environmental harm. They quickly establish themselves in a new habitat that has favorable conditions and no natural predators to balance their growth and spread. They can also threaten or eliminate the ability for native species to thrive because they DO have natural predators and have evolved to live with moderate growth in a robust community of competitive species.
That number keeps climbing with international trade, travel and shipping that move plants, animals and disease organisms with globalization.
Native plants contribute to natural systems, but invasive species can upset delicately balanced systems of water availability, sunlight, and soil quality. Many natives have adapted over time to tolerate local weather conditions and often feature deep root systems which can find water during drought conditions.
Invasive trees, shrubs and vines can spread not only their own species, but enable diseases to spread more rapidly and impact blight, rot and insect damage, as well as impact water supplies, pollinator migrations and native wildlife species habitat.
There are many local, regional and national conservation organizations that work to preserve native plants and species, as well as eradicate invasive populations. Nature is a very "localized" natural system -- and local action and vigilence are required to monitor and reclaim degraded land systems.
The Conservation Foundation - Illinois
The Conservation Foundation is a nonprofit land and watershed protection organization established in 1972 by business and community leaders, The Conservation Foundation is a not-for-profit land and watershed protection organization. Our headquarters are located in Naperville, Illinois, on a 60-acre working farm, and a program office is located in Montgomery, Illinois.
The mission of the Foundation is to preserve open space and natural lands, protect rivers and watersheds, and promote stewardship of the environment in Illinois.
The Conservation Foundation
Dickson-Murst Farm
2550 Dickson Road
Montgomery, IL 60538
Phone: (630) 553-0687
http://www.theconservationfoundation.org/
In October, 2007, California Air Resources Board (CARB) adoptd the first standards in the US for forest-generated, carbon dioxide emissions reduction projects. This step is a voluntary, early action set of standards that will help California reach its recent Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).
This adoption ensures that emissions reductions from forests certified under the "Forest protocols" developed by the California Climate Action Registry will be recognized in California's emerging climate program.
Forest Protocols for CO2 Emissions Reduction
The protocols were developed over four years by scientists, foresters, climate experts and other stakeholders to ensure CO2 emissions reductions from working forests. They will also meet international standards for a credible, transparent accounting method.
Van Eck Redwood Forest Project
The 2200 acre Van Eck Forest Project in Humboldt Co, California, a working redwood forest, was the first to apply the new Protocols. Two certification teams are involved in the review and verification process -- SGS North America, a global verification leader, and Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) the leading U.S. independent forestry certifier. After certification, the forest will be monitored annually for compliance and annual reports will also be independently verified.
Once certified, the owners of the forest expect to sell substantial emissions reduction offsets in the international carbon market.
Carbon Sequestration by Forests
Forests like this provide climate benefits by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing it as carbon in trees for hundreds of years. Compared to reforestation or afforestation techniques, managing established, working forests to achieve climate benefits is effective due to the fact that older forests have the ability to lay down greater volumes of carbon in shorter periods of time than younger forests.
In addition, forests prevent loss to development that harvests millions of board feet of living filtration systems provided by trees. By managing forests to grow older, these mature trees store more carbon than commercial redwood forests usually do. Selective logging that removes less timber volume than is grown each year increases the CO2 capture while maintaining revenue from responsible harvesting.
SOURCE: ForestLife, Winter 2007, The Pacific Forest Trust
"Listening to the commentaries on financial institutions that are too big to be allowed to fail and the frantic efforts to preserve the status quo reminded me of a century of national forest mismanagement. Fires were vigorously suppressed, resulting in a build-up of fuel until there came an uncontrollable inferno. Will the same thing happen to our financial systems? Should we break up enormous institutions and permit small fires to periodically clear away the deadwood? I'm not sure how this would be accomplished at this late date with so much fuel on the forest floor, but I can tell you that the longer we wait and prop up failing systems, the worse the conflagration will be."The rainforests are certainly the natural systems that we identified as "too big to be allowed to fail" in nature. But we're letting them fail anyway. And the fresh water system of aquifers, lakes, streams and even the ocean are too big to let fail. But?
The deserts are also too big to exploit. I read somewhere recently that deserts are seen as "inert" by the waste management industry. I must admit that you can drive through a desert and see little life. A few cacti. Maybe a vulture. But looks are deceiving. Unless we slow down and use additional tools to augment our limited vision, hearing and smell...we miss the intricacies of natural systems. And just because we can't see it...doesn't mean it doesn't exist -- or that it isn't important!
The earth (and the universe) have run efficiently for the ages based on complex natural systems. We tamper with them...we lose redundancy and communities of mutually supportive relationships. No where is that more visible and within human experience than in a forest. We can see the systems of plant communities, decay and fertility, moisture and seasons, habitat and fresh water systems...and on and on.
Take a busy executive on a forest adventure. The impact will be a gut level connection. That is the best form of learning. It's something both of you can enjoy. Do you have a relative or friend who has been spending way too much time indoors?
Make it your mission to reconnect them with the wonder of the woods! You'll both enjoy the learning experience and you don't have to preach. Nature will do it for you.
Planting a billion trees is an astonishing number! The Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees Campaign will preserve and restore Brazil's Atlantic Forest.
The threat is dire. "No tropical forest on earth has come closer to total destruction," says Claudia Picone, an information resource coordinator for The Nature Conservancy.
The Atlantic Forest is a spectacularly complex and biologically diverse expanse of tropical rainforest on the coast of Brazil. Once twice the size of Texas, only 7 percent of the original forest remains—it has been ravaged by ranching, illegal logging, agriculture, and other pressures.
The campaign to plant one billion trees in the Atlantic Forest continues The Nature Conservancy's mighty efforts to preserve the very special ecosystem. According to Picone, "We've finally turned the corner, and people are starting to realize that there are economic benefits to leaving the forest standing instead of cutting it down."
Since The Nature Conservancy's founding in 1951, it has protected more than 117 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers around the world. The group has more than a million members and works in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.
Give to the Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees campaign
www.plantabillion.org
National Young Farmers and Ranchers conference in Baltimore. During the opening session, an economist from Washington, D.C., said, "I never thought I would say this, but agriculture is a shining star in our slowing economy."
Commodity prices for a lot of products are up but that is not the only change on agriculture's horizon. Public perception and interest in the food supply is changing, too. Being a grower myself, I have noticed the variety of labels on food I see in the stores. There is organic, all natural, certified clean, free range, grass fed and carbon free. But I think the most important label of all is that it's California grown.
California farmers and ranchers grow, pack and ship some of the safest and best-quality products in the world. Many times we take this for granted because we can go to just about any store in California and have an abundance of beautiful produce to choose from. People living in other states or countries don't enjoy this same selection.
Consumers are becoming more educated on where their food comes from and how it is produced. They are concerned with food safety and as growers we need to be prepared to assure them that the product they are getting is the best in the world.
Consumers are not the only ones changing. Farmers and ranchers are changing, too. Many are beginning to understand the importance of telling their story and making sure their voice is heard on local and statewide issues affecting their farms and ranchers.
In a recent informal survey of young farmers and ranchers ages 18-35, conducted by the American Farm Bureau, 75 percent said state and local issues like property taxes concern them more than federal issues.
The same survey showed the vast majority--83 percent--of young farmers and ranchers are more optimistic about farming than they were five years ago. This is up from only 61 percent in 2003.
As consumers are showing more interest in the origin of their food,
farmers and ranchers are doing even more to continue their role as
stewards of the land. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said they
practice conservation tillage and 49 percent rotate three or more
crops. Forty-percent said they use soil and tissue analysis and 36
percent use integrated pest management practices.
SOURCE: California Farm Bureau
University of California researchers have studied the effects of irrigation on almonds for about 20 years. It has generally been thought that about 42 inches per acre per season is a reasonable estimate of water use by mature, productive almonds.
Seasonal water use follows a bell-shaped curve. Under this 42-inch model, water use starts out low after leafout at about 1.0 inch every 15 days, peaks at about 4.5 inches every 15 days in the first half of July, and declines back to about 1.0 inch every 15 days as the season ends.
In some situations, growers may have much less than 42 inches of water available from stored soil moisture and irrigation water. The challenge becomes managing crop stress over the course of the season.
One relatively effective approach that doesn't rely heavily on field monitoring is to attempt to sustain crop stress uniformly across all stages of tree growth and crop development by using estimates of crop water use. The limited water allocation is applied as a consistent percentage of the seasonal water use pattern. If 24 inches of irrigation water are available, representing about 60 percent of the potential water use, then the irrigation water would be allocated at about 60 percent of real-time or historic rates of crop water use over the course of the season.
UC water management specialist David Goldhamer of the Kearney
Agricultural Center published results of a four-year study illustrating
the effectiveness of the above approach.
Almonds were produced with 55, 70, 85 and 100 percent of a 42-inch water allocation.
Water was either cut back as a consistent percentage of estimated crop water use to try to sustain less pronounced crop stress across all stages of crop growth, or cutbacks targeted only pre-harvest, or post-harvest crop stages for higher crop stress.
The effect of limited water supply was minimized with uniform
allocation of water across all crop stages. However, productivity was
reduced particularly with 55 percent and 70 percent allocations.
- The uniform crop stress strategy gave both the highest four-year yields, and the largest average nut size within each water allocation.
- Sharp cut backs before harvest resulted in the second highest yields, but reduced nut size.
- Sharply withholding water after harvest affected bud development and reduced yield the next season.
UC Davis professor Ken Shackel was able to get by with a water allocation of about 85 percent of full supply with no short-term yield loss or effect on nut size by using a pressure chamber to actually track midday crop stress and keeping it within the -12 to -20 bar range in July during hull split.
For more information on on water management refer to UCManageDrought.ucdavis.edu.
