2007 Massachusetts Arbor Day Celebration

The Arbor Day tree planting at each site will take place in association with each municipality's foresters, tree wardens and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) personnel. The celebration, funded in part by a DCR Urban Forestry Challenge grant, is expected to draw state and local leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, as well as local youth and community members.

Where:
Thirteen locations throughout Massachusetts: For details on each site, please find links to the planting events at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Why:
* To showcase the efforts of YouthBuild students to improve the health of the Commonwealth's residents and address global warming
* To increase the tree canopy especially in low income urban communities, helping to restore equity across city neighborhoods and bring the health and economic benefits that trees provide
* To increase community awareness of the valuable role that trees play in an urban environment
* To build community involvement in the care and protection of local urban trees and their rural forest counterparts
* To demonstrate the benefits of organizational partnerships and individual community efforts, resulting in a positive impact on direct community service
* To provide opportunities for local service learning (including "hands-on" participation), related to urban and community forestry, for YouthBuild students and other community members, with an emphasis on reaching out to communities of color and other underserved audiences
* To expand on the success of a similar Arbor Day event held in Boston in 2006

Participating Groups:
Eagle Eye Institute develops replicable hands-on learning, stewardship and career program models, serving urban youth of color, which build environmental awareness, skills and responsibility. Programs are designed to build meaningful connections between the natural resource community and communities of color through active ongoing partnerships and shared experience in the field working together. Current work focuses on refining the Green Industry Career Pathway (GICP) program now being implemented through a partnership with YouthBuild USA and The Trustees of Reservations. The GICP program model increases awareness and knowledge about the environment and the value of urban and community forestry through learning, stewardship and career-bridging programs.

The Massachusetts YouthBuild Coalition seeks to provide a forum for the leadership of local YouthBuild programs to share and develop best practices in the provision of youth development services. YouthBuild programs engage unemployed young men and women, most of whom have not completed high school and all of whom come from low-income families, helping them to obtain education, job skills and vocational and technical assistance and training. By collaborating, building alliances, leveraging partnerships and grant writing, the Massachusetts YouthBuild Coalition shares its comprehensive youth development expertise and generates support for its 11 local YouthBuild programs. YouthBuild enables these young adults to serve their communities by building affordable housing, and assists them in transforming their own lives and roles in society.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is steward of one of the largest state parks system in the country. Its 450,000 acres is made up of forests, parks, greenways, historic sites and landscapes, seashores, lakes, ponds, reservoirs and watersheds. DCR's Urban and Community Forestry Program assists communities and nonprofit groups in protecting, growing, and managing community trees and forest ecosystems, with the ultimate aim of improving the environment and enhancing livability of all of Massachusetts' communities. The program provides grants, technical assistance, training, and recognition awards to communities of all sizes throughout Massachusetts.

For more information, visit the Massachusetts DCR Urban and Community Forestry.