Local News

Washington Community Tree Recovery Campaign Distributes Free New Trees

Mar 21, 2016

The Washington Community Tree Recovery Campaign – a partnership between the Arbor Day Foundation, the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association, the Okanogan Conservation District and the Methow Conservancy– will distribute 8,300 new trees this year to residents in Okanogan County who were affected by record-breaking wildfires in 2014 & 2015. These new trees will be free of charge, and help to replace trees damaged and destroyed by back-to-back “megafire” seasons.

Arbor Day Foundation’s Community Tree Recovery, a national program underwritten by FedEx and foundation members, aims to replace trees in communities affected by natural disasters throughout the United States. The program assisted more than 200 communities in planting or distributing more than 2.8 million trees since its inception in 2012.

The first trees will be distributed on April 2 in Okanogan, and Twisp, WA. These will followed by a third and fourth distribution in Pateros on April 29, and Tonasket on April 30th. All of the distributions will include native Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). Landscape tree varieties Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Red Maple (Acer rubrum), Littleleaf Linden (Tilia cordata), and Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) will be available at the Pateros and Tonasket distributions.

Please see below for addresses and times of distributions:

April 2: Okanogan – Rawson’s Store Outdoor Lot, corner of 2^nd Ave and Rose St. from 11:00-12:00 PM

Twisp – TwispWorks, 502 S. Glover Street from 10:30-12:00 PM.

April 29: Pateros – Memorial Park, Lakeshore Drive from 3:30pm-5:30pm.

April 30:Tonasket – Triangle Park, Highway 97 from 10:00am-12:00pm.

“Trees are assets to a community when properly planted and maintained,” said Dan Lambe, president, Arbor Day Foundation. “They help to improve the visual appeal of a neighborhood or shopping district, increase property values, reduce home cooling costs, remove air pollutants, and provide wildlife habitat, among many other benefits.”

The 2014 and 2015 wildfires have impacted 21% of the land in Okanogan County, the largest county in Washington State (5,315 square miles). More than 500 homes have been lost, along with millions of dollars of both public and private infrastructure. Businesses from agriculture to tourism to retail have been severely impacted by the destruction spread over more than half a million acres.

“For decades, FedEx has served as a first responder in disaster relief efforts,” said Jenny Robertson, FedEx Director of Citizenship & Reputation Management. “We are committed to helping communities on their road to sustainable recovery by connecting them with the resources needed to foster stronger and more resilient ecosystems.”

To donate to the recovery efforts supported by this campaign or other across the country please visit www.arborday.org/recovery. With your help, we can begin to restore this nations beautiful landscapes, including your local state of Washington.