Take Action
Plant and Care
There are many resources with advice on selecting, planting and caring for trees. Here are a few:
Lincoln Parks & Recreation Department has a newly updated list of native and adapted trees
The Nebraska Forest Service suggests Trees to Plant and advises on Tree Care
The Arbor Day Foundation offers lots of advice, including videos, on its Trees pages
Click on “Tree Trimming & Landscaping” for safe planting advice and more from Lincoln Electric System
Here are nurseries and landscapers who sell and/or promote native or adapted trees for our area. There are others, but these resources have opted to support Faith to Forest:
Campbell’s Nursery and Garden Centers
Donate
No place to plant a tree? Or want to do more? Please donate to support tree-planting and care in Lincoln or globally. Individuals may contribute directly, or a congregation may engage in a short-term fundraising effort.
Locally—The Lincoln Parks Foundation is partnering with Faith to Forest to support tree planting through its Community Forestry Fund. Particularly if you don't have a place to plant a tree, consider donating to support trees in parks and other public spaces. Any donation amount is welcome and useful. If you want to "plant" a whole tree, a $250 donation covers purchasing, planting, mulching, and the first couple years of care for one tree. Another idea: Sign up for $2 for Trees to make a donation every time you pay your Lincoln water bill!
Globally—Trees offer us many kinds of benefits, but if your primary goal is to combat climate change, location matters. The trees we plant in temperate climates—like where we live—may actually have no net effect on climate. In terms of stabilizing the climate, the best place to plant new trees is the tropics—regions like Latin America, Africa, and parts of Southeast Asia—where trees grow fastest, trap the most CO2, and create a cloud layer that reflects the sun. Donations to One Tree Planted are used to plant native trees in critical areas where local residents are strongly invested in nurturing them to maturity.
Can’t decide? Your congregation might choose a specific ratio for dividing all tree-planting contributions to support both local and global efforts.
Advocate
Ideas for individuals and faith communities:
Buy and plant native and adapted species
Let your garden center or landscaper know this is important to you
Speak up for trees, the environment, and environmental justice in your civic life
Not sure how to be an advocate for trees, climate change or other environmental values? Check out this hour-long video on how to be an effective advocate at the city, state, and federal levels. It doesn’t require a lot of time or expertise to speak up for what you believe in!