Campbell Report

Tree Amigos Help Green Up Campbell

They save energy. They clean the air. They're healthy and they increase property values.

You just can't go wrong with trees, says Rhonda Berry, executive director of Our City Forest.

"And the current news is that they're coming to Campbell," she adds.

Our City Forest is a San Jose-based nonprofit dedicated to creating a healthy urban environment by encouraging Silicon Valley residents to plant and care for trees. The organization is soliciting applications from residents and schools along the Vasona Light Rail corridor who want more greenery in their neighborhoods.

The light rail extension is scheduled to open for full service in August and has three stations in Campbell--one at Hamilton Avenue and Highway 17, one on Orchard City Drive near downtown, and one on Winchester Boulevard near St. Lucy Church. Last year, Our City Forest received a state grant to plant approximately 1,600 trees within a 6-mile radius of the tracks that run from downtown San Jose to Campbell.

The purpose of the program is to help reduce the environmental impact of construction at the Vasona Light Rail stations, Berry says. The trees should help absorb particulate matter and filter out pollution, making the streets healthier.

The Our City Forest program, active since November 2004 and called the Trees for Vasona Light Rail Neighborhoods, will continue until April 2006. Only 200 trees have been planted, so there are still 1,400 trees left waiting for homes.

"This program really is still just getting started," Berry says. "We'll be making a big push for it soon."

This isn't the first time Our City Forest has been active in the Orchard City. Four years ago the nonprofit ran a large-scale neighborhood project that led to the planting of 500 trees in the downtown area, Berry says. Over a period of a year, volunteers spent one day a week planting the trees, 15 to 25 at a time.

Campbell homeowner Randy Talley was outside in his front yard when a group of tree planters descended upon Alice Avenue, where he lives.

"I just thought that what they were doing was so nice," says Talley. "It looked like they were having fun, and I like to see trees."

Talley learned more about the program after talking with some of the volunteers. He decided that he liked the organization's mission and got involved. Talley, a retired engineer, began volunteering occasionally in some of Our City Forest's other tree-planting projects. Then, about 1 1/2 years ago, he took the next step and became a Tree Amigo, spending 1 1/2 hours a week for six weeks learning the proper way to plant and care for different kinds of trees.

There are approximately 80 active Tree Amigos, a cadre of trained volunteers who teach other volunteers the proper pruning techniques and lead the planting efforts.

"They're basically tree-planting coaches," Berry says, "and they've been an integral part of the organization since it began 10 years ago."

Experts, like Tree Amigos, are needed to train the volunteers and to help tree stewards understand what they need to do to keep the newly planted trees healthy. That's because the organization only has five employees, but hundreds of volunteers around the valley, Berry says.

Stewards are a unique component of the Our City Forest's programs. The organization runs a system that asks homeowners and schools if they want trees on their property. Once the property owners agree, they sign a three-year commitment to take care of the trees after they're planted.

Many programs come from an urban-development perspective, in which the main emphasis is to modify landscaping, Berry says. Other programs come from a job-training perspective, where the emphasis is to get people busy with work. This program incorporates a philosophy that marries the two approaches.

"We were looking for a balance," she says. "So we put our resources into people."

The result was a slice of social work and a slice of urban planning. It was a mix that Kurt Newick, another Campbell Tree Amigo, found necessary. "Really, the easy part is the planting," Newick says. "The hard part is taking care of the trees once they're in the ground." Newick has been a part of Our City Forest for five years. Since learning about the organization from flyers at Whole Foods Market, he's help plant hundreds of trees all around Campbell, including a number of them near First Street in downtown, Rincon and Alice avenues.

The important thing is that the volunteers must try to develop a bond with the stewards, he says. Only in that way can anyone be assured that the tree will have a good chance of survival.

Newick says he's a firm believer in helping to stop global warming, and says Our City Forest Program allows him to do his part in maintaining the fresh air of the planet.

"I do most of my volunteer work in Campbell, so I ride my bicycle to events," he says. "If the event is too far away I'll be too tempted to drive a car which would defeat the purpose."

With Earth Day celebrations this week, he says, people should be cognizant of what they're doing to help the environment.
Berry says public interest has definitely grown in her organization's goals and efforts.

Ten years ago it was just an idea on paper. Now the idea has germinated into 33,000 trees that have been planted all over Silicon Valley. During that time more than 100,000 people have taken part in these efforts.

"That involvement is the most essential thing that Our City Forest brings to the table. It's all about environmental stewardship, tree survival and building a sense of community," she says. "And you can't put a price or value on that."

By Martin Nobida (Campbell Reporter, April 20, 2005)