Last chance to vote! 2005 Mid-county MEMO Community Awards. Read the story and download a ballot.
Vol. 20, No. 12 • Mailed monthly to over 13,000 homes in the Gateway & Parkrose Communities Free • APRIL 2005
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Tree planting huge success
City struggles with Measure 37 aftermath
Gateway area loses influential leader
County to retain Hansen building, traffic tangles tackled
102nd Avenue plans move ahead
Merkley sees challenges to East Portland
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County library may return to Parkrose High
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Tree planting huge success

DARLENE VINSON
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
“Is this straight?” Argay resident Katie Oaks asks as she lines up the freshly planted tree in front of her home. Tree planting volunteers Ann Wheeler, (from left) Charmaine Nichols and Mike Taylor stand by to finish planting the tree.
MEMO PHOTOS: TIM CURRAN


The city of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services has identified several areas of Mid-County as lacking trees. To alleviate the situation, groups of volunteers under the direction of Friends of Trees got together last month to plant trees in the Wilkes and Argay neighborhoods and at Parkrose High School.
(left) Alexander Hetherington from Cub Scout Pack 606 helps mom Julie Hetherington and Pack mate Shawn Anderson plant one of the 33 trees recently planted in Wilkes neighborhood.
On Saturday, March 12, 33 trees were planted by students from the Multnomah Youth Cooperative, an educational youth conservation organization partnered with local nonprofit agencies in the Reynolds School District, in the Wilkes neighborhood and others. Satellite photos and BES computer maps were used to identify potential tree planting sites. After making site identifications, the students followed up by contacting homeowners and offering trees, then working with the city urban forester to identify tree planting sites that would not interfere with above or below ground utilities. The students then coordinated the purchasing of trees that are friendly to streets and sidewalks, dug the holes and organized the planting event with volunteers from the Wilkes Community Group and a Cub Scout group.

The project was funded under the Community Watershed Stewardship Grant Program. The program is a partnership between BES, Portland State University and the Northwest Service Academy. A recent PSU study showed that while most urban areas in the U.S. have lost trees in the recent past, land covered by trees in Portland has increased. The greatest increases have been in neighborhoods where Friends of Trees has organized plantings.

On that same Saturday, a number of homeowners and students gathered at the Portland Fire Training Station center at 4800 N.E. 122nd Ave. to plant 30 trees in Argay neighborhood parking strips and yards, along with 39 trees along Parkrose High School’s northern boundary. The Argay Neighborhood Association along with Friends of Trees spearheaded the effort. Partial funding came from a grant from BES.
(from left) Neighborhood Trees Specialist Kylie Nero from Friends of Trees holds up a map of the Columbia Slough Watershed with help from Argay Neighborhood Association Chairman Pete Schmidt. In addition, Susan Barthell of the Bureau of Environmental Services explains to assembled volunteers the impact rainwater runoff from nearby neighborhoods has on the Columbia Slough.
Volunteer Scott Stevens, who lives in the Woodstock neighborhood, was the initiator of tree plantings in his neighborhood, and was on hand for the plantings at Argay, Wilkes and Parkrose High School. Stevens said for the total number of trees planted, it was well above average for a first time neighborhood tree planting.

In addition to providing shade and homes for songbirds, trees planted in yards trap rainwater on their leaves and through their roots, reducing storm water management costs and combined sewer overflows into our rivers and streams. They also release oxygen and trap pollutants on their leaves, cleaning our air, and they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, slowing global warming. A Center for Urban Forestry Institute study shows that each yard tree planted in the Northwest today can provide more than $1,000 in benefits to homeowners and the community over the tree’s lifetime.

Additional plantings are anticipated. To volunteer to assist with future plantings or to find out about plantings in your neighborhood, contact Friends of Trees at 503-284-8733.
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