“Do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are.”

—Teddy Roosevelt

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

—Edmund Burke

Before agriculture, (10,000 years ago, give or take), about 15,000,000,000 acres of land were forested.

By the 1950’s, that acreage had been reduced to 10,000,000,000 acres.

Thirty years later a further 25% of forested acreage had disappeared.

The yearly average destruction of tropical forest is more than 28,000,000 acres.

Big deal?

Yep.

This topic having been much discussed of late, yet another rehash is not nearly so useful as pointing out that we can do something about it by planting a tree.

Key points are:

It’s easier than you might think.

“How to” information is readily available from a nursery, horticultural society, arboretum, or botanical garden.  You could ask your local agricultural extension service.

Does a local college offer courses in landscape design?

Somebody there knows how to plant a tree.

Talking to neighbors just might turn up a local tree wonk.

Like other plants, trees require a little care for the first two years—vertical support, water, some mulch.

It’s a mathematical certainty that every tree planted helps to mitigate the greenhouse effect.

New trees are an investment in our grandchildrens’ quality of life.

Tree planting is a practical way to give them a gift that keeps on giving.