Story by Laramie Trevino

San Jose Mercury News, October 5, 1995

You can tell by the name – Tree Amigos – that these people are convinced that a tree is a terrible thing to waste.

Waste not, want not, say the volunteers who are dedicated to the care and planting of San Jose’s trees.

Groomed in an 18-hr training sponsored by Our City Forest, a non-profit entity that until a year ago was a program of the city of San Jose, these defenders of our shady friends continue to extend their reach.

Mariana Pung, for one, volunteered for Tree Amigos and then enlisted her husband, Kevin, and 15-year-old son, Raymond. “Before,” she says, “I thought all it took to plant a tree was to dig a hole and put it in.” Now she has learned how to evaluate a variety, where to situate it, whether it will be a messy tree and if it will bear fruit.

“There’s all kinds of reasons for planting trees – and you’ve got to work with what you have,” Pung says.

Gary Pastre, another volunteer, gets a rush out of observing youngsters who have never held a hammer, pounding their first stakes. People involved in tree-planting activities don’t need a job or even a driver’s license to contribute, he says. People can “make a difference on an effort still evident 50 years down the line,” Pastre says.

Since the Tree Amigos program was launched two years ago, 152 local residents like Pung, 33, and Pastre, 51, have completed Tree Amigos workshops. The most recent class planned and planted 30 trees for the San Jose AIDS Memorial Grove in Guadalupe River Park.

Rhonda Berry, president of Our City Forest, says her group takes responsibility for tree-related programs and services in neighborhoods and schools through education and outreach, planning and research, and volunteer development. “Our Tree Amigos are the heart and soul of the organization,” she says.

In 1994-95, Tree Amigos volunteers planted 3,000 15-gallon trees in San Jose. Since the city has no tree-replacement program, Our City Forest, financed by state grants with a current budget of $250,000, attempts to fill that gap in schools and public areas. It does not provide trees for individuals but can line up technical assistance for citizens concerned about trees in their neighborhood, she says.

If a planting is scheduled and 100 neighbors show up, you can expect 10 Tree Amigos to lead the activity. For every project, there is an educational component, Berry says.

When people become involved in a planting, they often bond with a tree, tend to feel respect toward it and become willing to track its development, she says. This relationship helps to avert vandalism in many instances.

Berry, a social worker and urban planner in her early 40s, who would love to run and orphanage, sees her organization as more than an environmental arm. “it’s a community-building program. It’s about inspiring people in the community and showing them a way,” she says.

Jack Wagnon, 76, a retired school principal and onetime agriculture teacher, finds “the way” fascinating.

Between his put-downs of botched plantings of city trees whose roots are restricted by concrete, Wagnon can describe a subterranean environment, talk of fungus and hair roots, and touch on other aspects of tree life.

A Cambrian Park resident, Wagnon teamed up with Our City Forest after the Kiwanis Club of Cambrian Park appointed him to serve as the liason between the two groups.

When it was established three years ago, Our City Forest was regarded as a possible threat to maintenance workers who felt volunteers could jeopardize their jobs. Berry says those fears soon were dispelled; now city crews call her office seeking assistance.

Nowadays, the city funds about 40 percent of the operation, some of it in in-kind contributions. The three-person Our City Forest staff works out of a corner of city space located at 4 N Second St.

The Tree Amigos training program is an ongoing project; more volunteers are always needed. For information, call Berry at Our City Forest (408) 998-7337.