Baltimore nonprofit selling saplings to gain experience for planned

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 8, 2008 by Ben Mook

By selling low-cost native trees that are specially designed to grow faster and be hardier then traditionally grown saplings, the Parks & People Foundation Inc., a Baltimore-based nonprofit that works to revitalize Baltimore's green spaces, is hoping to open a new revenue source and increase the number of trees in the city.

Through the end of March, the Parks & People Foundation will sell seven species of trees: pin oaks; bur oaks; red oaks; red maples; red buds; roughleaf dogwoods and bald cypresses. The year-old trees cost $45 each and come in three-gallon containers.

Jessica Walbridge, assistant director of social enterprises at the Parks & People Foundation, said in addition to being tree species native to the region, they are also designed to grow three times faster than normal trees, and can handle drought conditions and pollution. The trees are grown through the Root Production Method, an all-natural process that reportedly gives trees a 95 percent survival rate.

The Root Production Method, or RPM, is the creation of the Forrest Keeling Nursery, of Elsberry, Mo., which licensed the Parks & People Foundation to be its mid-Atlantic retailer. Essentially, RPM prompts trees to grow a denser, fibrous root system that makes them more efficient at gathering water and nutrients.

"The character of the RPM root system promotes high survival and rapid growth, and therefore the seedlings are valuable products for managers trying to establish ecosystems in harsh environments," Dan Dey, research forester at the USDA Forest Service, said in a news release announcing the sale.

Walbridge said the Parks & People Foundation went with the Forrest Keeling Nursery trees because it sees the trees as an ideal fit for the Baltimore area. She said they wanted trees that were native to the area, would be easy to care for and also have high survivability.

Additionally, the tree sale fits in with another long-held goal of the foundation. "We have been committed to the idea of creating an urban tree nursery for a while," Walbridge said. "This tree sale is the first in a number of steps to creating that nursery.

"We wanted to keep it simple and at the same time gain some experience about the nursery market," Walbridge added.

The trees from the March sale will be delivered in April, but the goal is to create a nursery where the foundation can have trees ready for sale. Walbridge said the foundation is in the process of securing land for the nursery, and the goal is to have it available by the end of the year.

The Parks & People Foundation hopes the tree sales will eventually give it a new stream of revenue, making it less dependent on fluctuations in private and public funding year-to-year.

"Hopefully, this will give us predictable, sustainable income we can then turn right around and plug back into our programs," Walbridge said.

According to the foundation's latest financial statement filed with the IRS, it spent $2.7 million on expenses including for such things as the rehabilitation of nine acres of land in Druid Hill Park, and for Outward Bound, an outdoor learning and wilderness adventure program. The group gets its funding split roughly equally between public and private donations.

The foundation is planning a fall sale for the fall as well. Walbridge said the second sale would last for a longer time then the spring sale.