A driving force for conservation - includes related articles

Chevy/Geo joins AMERICAN FORESTS for a two-year partnership aimed at reforestation and education.

Chevrolet/Geo Environmental has added its support to several AMERICAN FORESTS programs designed to reforest damaged lands, reduce the heat-island effect in cities, and increase awareness of the importance of urban forestry. Chevrolet/Geo and AMERICAN announced the two-year agreement in Spokane, Washington, in September.

One of those programs is Global ReLeaf Forests, and the two groups were joined by a host of local partners at the kick-off for two important projects: the Washington-Idaho Centennial Trail and a portion of Drumheller Springs Park, a Native American historical site.

Chevrolet/Geo is also supporting AMERICAN FORESTS' Seventh National Urban Forest Conference, to be held in New York City in September, and the Cool Communities program. Cool Communities, a joint effort with the Department of Energy, shows how cities and their residents can reduce energy use through strategic tree planting and lightening surface colors.

Global ReLeaf Forests restoration projects can instill a sense of environmental stewardship of our land, and the two Washington State projects demonstrate that fact by having students and local volunteers do the hands-on work.

Attending the ceremony were students from John Rogers High School in Spokane and their teacher, Mary Porter, who have done a significant amount of work at the site and are helping with plans for upcoming plantings. Other local partners also took part: Rich Baden and Christine Armstrong, Spokane County Conservation District; Carol Wendell, Spokane School Board; Don Schulte, Chevrolet/Geo; Scott Stowell, Spokane Public Schools; and Neil Sampson, AMERICAN FORESTS.

Since AMERICAN FORESTS began its Global ReLeaf Forests restoration program in 1990, 2.5 million trees have been planted in 53 sites across the U.S. The trees do more than just improve the look of the land--they provide wildlife habitat, protect watersheds, clean the air and the water, and support educational and recreational opportunities. You can join the effort for only $1 per tree (10-tree minimum, please); call 800-8ReLeaf.

Tracking Copies and Trees

For business, cutting costs is always a major consideration, and a new Global ReLeaf partner helps by offering an innovative way to more efficiently use resources. And in the process, Equitrac Corporation of Coral Gables, Florida, is providing new natural resources in the form of trees. Equitrac manufactures and markets cost-recovery and expense-management systems for businesses, allowing customers to automatically track, record, and report usage on office machines from photo-copiers to fax machines.

Now, every time Equitrac puts a system into place, it will contribute money to AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf Forests program. And Equitrac's Chicago office is exploring another approach: Donating Living Classrooms to area schools on behalf of major clients. AMERICAN FORESTS' Living Classrooms program uses trees tied to historic figures or places as a focal point to teach students science, literature, geography, sociology, art, music, and history.

KURT REDENBO

Chile's on Board

AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf campaign has a new partner in Chile, thanks to Jim Carlson, a Peace Corps volunteer on assignment in Santiago. TEKHNE S.A., a nonprofit organization, has been working on the national level in Chile since 1982.

It boasts a demonstration center three hours north of Santiago. TEKHNE has a good working relationship with other ecological and environmental organizations and with the Chilean government and international agencies--the organization's major revenue source. The group has worked on a variety of projects, ranging from wood/fuel conservation and solar energy to food conservation, irrigation practices, and reforestation.

CHRYSTIA SONEVYTSKY

Planting the World

Briggs & Stratton, which manufactures lawnmower engines, is supporting tree-planting projects worldwide through grants of up to $3,000 to the following Global ReLeaF International partners: Bulgaria (The Ecomonitoring Club), Ecuador (FUNDACION NATURA), Germany (PRIMA KLIMA), Ireland (The Tree Council of Ireland), Romania (The Ecologist Youth of Romania), Slovakia (Slovak Union of Nature and Landscape Conservation), South Africa (Trees For Africa), Ukraine (The National Ecological Centre of Ukraine).

The projects represent a wealth of diversity--from urban schoolyard plantings to riparian restoration to reforestation of damaged land. Briggs & Stratton has also funded planting projects in the Sister Cities of Minneapolis and Kuopio, Finland and Houston and Leipzig, Germany.

CYNTHIA SONEVYTKSY

RESEARCH/POLICY

Sustaining Rural Communities

Sustainable rural development might be addressed in the 1995 Farm Bill, and in August AMERICAN FORESTS' Forest Policy Center conducted a scoping session to identify and evaluate issues relating to the federal role in assisting this type of development.

Approximately 60 representatives of various agencies and groups took part in the session. Represented were: federal and state agencies, rural-development practitioner groups, private industry, citizen and conservation organizations, and universities. Several policy initiatives developed by session participants are contained in the report, "Strategies to Enhance Sustainable Rural Development," prepared by the Forest Policy Center.