The American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER) announces its "One Million Trees Project - Right Tree for the Right Place at the Right Time" nationwide public service project. We call on ABA members to contribute to the goal of planting one million trees across the United States in the next five years. Trees are important to the environment through their ability to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide and also contribute to the overall health of communities, wildlife and aesthetics. In addition to the actual planting of trees, SEER also intends through public outreach and partnering efforts, to raise the nation's awareness of the multiple benefits of trees and their role in helping to fight climate change. Members of SEER intend to engage in numerous publicity and educational outreach efforts throughout the year, including planned tree plantings across the country on Earth Day and Arbor Day.

A key aspect of the project is ABA SEER’s partnerships with well recognized tree-planting organizations, including Alliance for Community Trees, The Arbor Day Foundation, Tree Link/Tree Bank, American Forests, and the Institute for Environmental Solutions. Members are encouraged to get involved in hands-on tree planting activities in their communities in addition to purchasing a tree or trees through the program partners.

To speak with someone about this project, please contact any of the public service vice chairs from any of the participating Section committees listed to the right. The committee home page and leadership listings are linked from the committee name.

To participate in this project please visit any of the information pages at our partners’ websites.

The ABA SEER’s Partners for Planting Trees:

The Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) is dedicated to improving the health and livability of cities by planting and caring for trees. With 160 grassroots affiliates in 40 states and Canada, ACT engages volunteers to take action to improve the environment where 80% of people live – in urban areas. ACT member organizations have planted and cared for 14.9 million trees in cities with help from 4.3 million volunteers. ABA and ACT are partnering to inspire the planting of one million trees nationwide. Get involved by making a donation to plant a tree, or volunteer with one of ACT's local tree planting groups by visiting http://actrees.org/site/stories/aba.php

The Arbor Day Foundation is the largest nonprofit tree-planting organization in the country, with nearly one million members nationwide. The mission of the Foundation is to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. Founded in 1972, the Foundation has a global impact. This year alone, the Foundation will distribute and plant more than 15 million trees across the United States and around the world. The Foundation provides many ways for members, organizations and corporate partners to plant trees in neighborhoods, communities, and in our nation’s forests. Through the Arbor Day Foundation’s current efforts and partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, supporters are able to plant trees through their donations in forests that have been devastated by wildfires, insects or disease. Visit www.arborday.org/aba to learn more about how you can help.

American Forests is a nonprofit conservation organization working with individuals, communities, and policy makers to protect and restore forest ecosystems since 1875. It is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to grow a healthier world with trees. The Global Releaf tree-planting program works with local organizations and agencies to plant native trees in damaged ecosystems across the globe. These trees provide cleaner air and water, habitats for endangered species, and reduce the effects of climate change on our planet. Every dollar donated plants a tree. So far, this project has planted over 25 million trees. Visit www.americanforests.org/aba and discover more ways in which to participate.

TreeLink is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness and enable support for healthy urban and community forests. Its goal is long-term impact in urbanized areas. The goal is accomplished by providing information networking and communications tools for urban forestry professionals, nonprofits, government, academics, researchers and the public at large. This is done through resources for education and public policy, best practices, access to government-funded research on all aspects of tree and forest biology, planting guides, volunteer opportunities, listserves and links to other tree-related organizations, information and activities. Visit www.treelink.org – a resource center of inspiration, communication and information.

The TreeBank program was created by TreeLink to enable support for local community tree planting, care and education. TreeBank is a web-based tool that enables any city to develop a community fund for tree planting, care and education. Customized specifically for urban forestry initiatives, TreeBank provides cooperative marketing with a plug-and-play donation system. TreeBank donors can self-direct their contributions to the local TreeBank "branch" in their communities of choice. In this way, TreeBank harnesses the green intentions of donors and accelerates the missions of tree organizations. Visit www.itreebank.org and donate to your local urban forest.”

As a part of the “One Million Trees” project, the Section has partnered with the Alliance for Community Trees and their local affiliate, Parks & People Foundation, to call on you to pick up a shovel! On Wednesday, September 23....(more)

ABA members are encouraged to get involved in hands-on tree planting activities in their communities in addition to purchasing a tree or trees through the program partners. If you have participated in a tree planting project or have planted a tree on your own, please report this information by using the online form. We want to count the trees you planted towards our goal of planting one million trees by 2014.

Primary Committee Sponsor:

Additional Sponsors:

The Institute for Environmental Solutions (IES) is a Denver-based nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing complex environmental challenges. IES advances objective, integrated solutions to the region’s most pressing environmental concerns such as air and water quality and climate change. In The Tree Project: Integrated Urban Environmental Improvement Through Tree Selection and Management, IES is optimizing the impact of the urban forest on energy and water conservation, air and water quality, and global climate. On its website you can find the results of scientific research, guidelines for municipalities seeking to improve the environmental performance of their urban forestry program, and TreeScapes©, an interactive tree selection and planting guide for homeowners. Visit http://www.i4es.org/treeproject.html