Nearly 100 cyclists and tree enthusiasts pedaled through the Carolinas to raise awareness and funds as part of the 24th annual Stihl Tour des Trees, a fundraiser to benefit the Tree Fund.
Thanks to grants from the Tree Fund, researchers and organizations are working to provide communities and tree care professionals with resources and strategies to better propagate, plant and care for our urban canopies.
“The Stihl Tour des Trees is unquestionably our most important, high-impact community engagement event,” says Tree Fund President and CEO J. Eric Smith. “We literally take our show on the road for a full week in a different part of the country each year, providing national exposure to the importance of tree research and education to a healthy urban canopy. We meet with community advocates, schoolchildren, media outlets, tree workers, homeowners, municipal leaders and just regular folks along the road, and our volunteers’ knowledge and enthusiasm is truly infectious. It’s also extraordinary how hard our riders work to generate funds for research, and how generous our corporate partners are in defraying our operating expenses, so that 100% of the funds raised by our volunteers go straight to research.”
With the help of the Stihl Tour des Trees, Tree Fund has helped fund research grants totaling nearly $3 million since 2002. Recent projects and studies supported by the Tree Fund have focused on urban forests as storm water systems; can soil amendments ability to reduce disease severity in trees; and the creations of a soil management toolbox for urban trees.
Tree Fund not only assists with critical tree research, but it also helps fund education programs aimed at connecting young people with the environment and career opportunities in the green industries. Some of the recent Tree Fund education grant recipients are Asheville GreenWorks; Greening of Detroit; and South Dakota State University’s McCrory Gardens.
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