THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER FOR UP WITH TREES
- WINTER 2019
GREEN LEAF GALA:
PLANTING TULSA’S LEGACY On October 4th, community members from across Oklahoma celebrated Tulsa’s urban forest at the Green Leaf Gala: Planting Tulsa’s Legacy. Welcomed by the historical significance of The Mayo Hotel, more than 200 guests united in support of a more beautiful and healthier Tulsa. Patrons participated in a Green Leaf Pull, tested their luck at the Tree Puzzle, breezed through the beautiful silent auction displays, and engaged in a prosperous live auction led by Jay Litchfield. The night ended with a lively performance from the band SquadLive
and competitive games. Thanks to the dedicated efforts put forth by the Co-Chairs, Elizabeth Howell and Victoria Schulz and the enthusiastic Gala Committee, the evening successfully raised more than $145,000 and introduced dozens of new faces to the impact of the organization. The dollars raised
by this captivating evening benefit Up With Trees’ various tree planting and education initiatives. With the generosity contributed at the event and by our sponsors, we will continue to plant, preserve and promote a healthy urban forest. Together, we will grow and steward a resilient canopy that benefits our beautiful city now and for generations to come.
IN THIS ISSUE TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MASTER PLAN
TULSA’S GATEWAY TO THE WORLD
BECOME A CITIZEN FORESTER
WELCOME
FROM STEVE GRANTHAM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Black Forest – The Redwood Forest – Tulsa’s Urban Forest. Whether famous, immense, or
close to home, each of these, at their smallest unit, is ultimately made up of individual trees. In 2019, Up With Trees will plant over 2,200 individual trees to expand Tulsa’s urban forest. In these pages, you will read about some of the projects and partnerships that enable us to plant each tree. We are excited to reshape the gateway to downtown along Highway 11 and Interstate 244. Our
partnership with Tulsa Public Schools allows us to educate children through our Tree School program AND improve their campuses at the same time. Also, our park plantings will ensure wonderful public spaces for decades to come.
fully enjoy our parks and green spaces. Ultimately, we want your community to be the best it can be. More than anything, we want you to know how thankful we are for you. Your encouragement, your time, and your support allows us to plant and maintain all those individual trees that comprise the urban forest that we love.
At the end of the day, we do all of this to benefit one individual – you. We want you to breathe cleaner air. We want your commute to work to be as beautiful as possible. We want you to
Thank you for allowing us to serve you!
Having spent most of my life in Tulsa, I think I took the beautiful, tree lined highways and numerous green spaces in our community for granted. That is until I got involved with Up With Trees! Now I am able to see the countless volunteers who plant, prune, and educate using funds generously donated by individuals and businesses right here in the Tulsa area. It is very satisfying to play a part in keeping Tulsa beautiful by serving on the board of Up With Trees. I am eagerly anticipating another beautiful Fall where thousands of trees will adorn the urban landscape and will be again reminded of the generosity of our citizens. - Chris Hodges, Board Member
Sid Patterson
Founder (1921-2012)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jeff Case
President
Kathy Vancuren Secretary
Anne Brockman Adam Brown Laura Bryant Chris Carter Larry Hovis
Tom Wallace
Nathan Pickard
Vice President
2nd Vice President
Bob Jack
Chris Hodges
Immediate Past President
Joe Howell Zac Kulsrud Tim Nall Michael Patton Roger Reeves
Nathan Schultz Susan Scott Farrell Seay Stewart Swayze Vanessa Thompson
Treasurer
Ron Walker Andrew Warren Jeff Weagley Christen Webb
become a CITIZEN FORESTER
FEBRUARY 2020, JOIN THE UP WITH TREES FAMILY OF OKLAHOMANS STEWARDING OUR COMMUNITY TREES!
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT-
NATALIE BENNETT & FAMILY As the backbone of our organization, our volunteer core is of more than 750 individuals, and a family within this astounding bunch is the Bennett Family. Natalie and her family started volunteering with us in 2017. The Bennetts act as phenomenal Up With Trees ambassadors at each of our volunteer events, and you can The Citizen Forester program is a 4 class training on how to plan, plant, preserve, and promote Tulsa’s urban forest. Learn more at UPWITHTREES.org.
find their friendly faces distributing seedlings at booths, painting wooden signs, and caring for our trees. “From planting trees downtown to distributing seedlings to the public, the Bennetts are there to lend a helping hand. This
When: 9:00am - 1:00pm Saturdays Feb. 1, 8, 15, and 22, 2019
family is all hard work and smiles and their
Where: Up With Trees 1102 S. Boston Ave. Tulsa, OK 74119
one,” says Program Director, Taylor Melone.
Cost: $75
Up With Trees is so grateful for the past couple
To apply for a scholarship contact Kaitlyn Beard at kaitlyn@upwithtrees.org or (918) 610-8733
of years with the Bennett Family. We wouldn’t
REGISTER AT UPWITHTREES.org/cf
service is leaving a legacy in more ways than
be able to grow a sustainable urban forest without volunteers like them!
TREE SCHOOL:
a student’s point of view Why are trees so important?
Dolores Huerta Elementary Fourth Grader Ameris says: “They provide oxygen. Because when we breathe out, we breathe out carbon dioxide; they breathe it in and provide fresh oxygen. I really want to plant trees!”
STEP OUTDOORS WITH TREE SCHOOL
DO YOU KNOW THE URBAN FOREST SURROUNDING YOU? where is your tree located?
draw the leaf:
how tall is your tree?
tree journal
what is the trunk’s diameter?
describe the feel & look of the leaves:
describe the feel & look of the bark:
does your tree provide shade? list animals/insects living in your tree:
yes
does your tree have: fruit cones nuts sap
no circle the one that reflects the health of your tree: good fair poor deceased
CELEBRATING HILTI’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY In celebration of their 40th anniversary, Hilti partnered with Up With Trees to plant 40 trees along a major Tulsa roadway. Commemorating 40 prosperous years, more than 20 volunteers from Hilti assisted in planting Bald Cypress, Chinese Pistache, Lacebark Elm, Loblolly Pine, Redbuds and Water Oak trees on Highway 169 southbound, between 31st & 41st. “At Hilti, we know there are a lot of ways to
SAVE THE DATE
V OLUNTEER H ONORS L UNCHEON
build a better future,” said Karl Neumaier, chief operations officer of Hilti North America. “Hilti has been proudly rooted in the Tulsa community for 40 years now, and we’re very excited to partner with Up With Trees to grow Tulsa’s urban forest. I see this partnership as an important step towards a more sustainable urban community for generations of Tulsans.” Identified as a “high need” planting area by our Tulsa Urban Forest Master Plan, these 40 new trees impact Tulsa by offering our city
cleaner air and water, and safer roadways. Up With Trees will maintain, water, and warranty these trees for three years to ensure their proper establishment. In addition to this new tree site planting, Hilti has a refurbished tool program where they donated dozens of tools to aid in the maintenance of trees in our care. Up With Trees is proud to call Hilti a partner in bringing the vision of a healthier Tulsa to fruition, and we look forward to future collaborations between our organizations.
S ATURDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2019 11:30am
Up With Trees volunteers win the gold! This February, we’ll take a break from planting and get back to our roots with some friendly competition. Join us as we appreciate our volunteers and the impact we have on our community due to the efforts of our Up With Trees family!
let
THE GAMES
begin
CURRENT
TULSA’S GATEWAY TO THE WORLD
I-244 & OK-11 LANDSCAPE REVITALIZATION PHASE ONE
OK-11 & I-244 FROM THE TULSA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO PEORIA AVE 33,152 Linear Feet Of Fenceline Pruning And Cleanup 1,400+ Trees To Be Planted
As the gateway to our city from the Tulsa International Airport, this stretch of Interstate 244 is one of the first and last things people view when visiting our beautiful city. In partnership with the City of Tulsa, Up With Trees is working to revitalize and reinvigorate the beauty and health of this area. With the assistance of volunteers, Up With Trees is cleaning up overgrown shrubbery along more than 30,000 linear feet
of fenceline, and planting more than 1,400 trees. Not only does this create a beautifully landscaped interstate for every commuter who drives through this area, but it also leaves a lasting impact on the neighboring residents by decreasing noise pollution from traffic, increasing shade, and absorbing gaseous pollutants. Up With Trees is proud of our growing city, and thanks to this partnership with
5 Years Of Tree Maintenance
the City of Tulsa, we can demonstrate our community’s commitment to a flourishing and vibrant landscape. Up With Trees is excited to share more updates on this project as we progress into 2020. Join us by volunteering to revitalize our major highways along I-244 and OK-11. For dates and locations, visit UPWITHTREES.org or call our office at (918) 610-8733.
PROJECTS
TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MASTER PLAN
At September’s Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education meeting, Up With Trees presented on the development of a districtwide Urban Forest Master Plan. This presentation comes after Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) set a goal in 2017 to increase tree canopy coverage from 5% to 10% for each of their campuses. Generously funded by the Joe & Jean Holliman Family
feedback, paired with the Foundation, this goal data collected on their launched a collaborative existing urban forest, visioning process to establishes a roadmap create a resilient, safe, toward increased canopy and connected urban coverage. forest on TPS grounds. This process involved a The mission of this comprehensive review plan is to guide the and assessment of the management and growth existing urban forest, of Tulsa Public Schools’ including species green infrastructure; composition, structural to understand the value, and environmental contribution trees have benefits. Additionally, on the health and wellinput was collected from being of our students and multiple stakeholders community, and (including district and campus A n n u a l B e n e f i t s o f T P S T re e s administration, Structural Value $13 million grounds personnel, Carbon Storage $339 thousand and faculty) who Carbon Sequestration $9.18 thousand play a role in the Stormwater Runoff $6.98 thousand planning, care, Pollution Re moval $10.1 thousand and advocacy of the trees on TPS campuses. All stakeholder
TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS PROPERTIES HAVE:
4,800+ TREES
400+
PL ANT ABLE ACRES
5%
T O T AL CANO PY CO VERAGE
to facilitate the role an urban forest offers in creating a healthy, and engaging learning environment. Through a cost-effective and efficient strategy, Up With Trees will:
Plant 2,000+ Trees On 72 TPS Properties
Educate Students At 65 Schools About The Urban Forest Around Them
Develop And Implement A Long-Term Maintenance Plan
Provide Training And Support For TPS Grounds Crews
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID Tulsa, OK. PERMIT NO. 512
1102 SOUTH BOSTON AVENUE, TULSA, OK 74119 Address Service Requested
DA TES TO R E ME MBE R DECEMBER
@up.with.trees
3rd 6th 7th 14th
JANUARY
@upwithtrees_ @up with trees
@upwithtrees
4th 11th 20th 25th
Up With Trees Giving Tuesday Holiday Party Tree Planting: OK-11 East Leg of N 73rd E Ave Tree Planting: OK-11 West Leg of N 73rd E Ave
Tree Planting Along I-244 Tree Planting Along I-244 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Tree Planting Along I-244
FEBRUARY Citizen Forester Program - 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd 22nd Volunteer Honors Luncheon
Check out UpWithTrees.org/calendar for all the details and upcoming events in 2020.