2001 Arbor Award Winners Announced

National Arbor Day Foundation
Sunday, 1 April 2001

National Arbor Day Foundation Announces Annual Awards

Nebraska City, Neb.--Leaders in tree planting and environmental stewardship from around the country and world will be honored by The National Arbor Day Foundation at its 29th annual Arbor Day Awards celebration held here on Saturday, April 28. The awards ceremony is part of the Arbor Day weekend celebration held in Nebraska City from April 27-29.

Award winners are recognized for their leadership in the cause of tree planting, conservation, and environmental stewardship. The 2001 National Arbor Day Award honorees are:

- John W. Mixon, of Forsyth, Georgia, winner of the Foundation's highest individual honor, the J. Sterling Morton Award for exemplary conservation work at the national or international level. Mixon's career in forestry spanned 34 years in both industry and state organizations and involved several innovative programs. Mixon's contributions include organizing and directing the highly successful Urban Forestry Program, which has been implemented across the state of Georgia. As the Chief of Forest Research, Mixon was instrumental in promoting wood as an alternate source of energy. Upon becoming director or the Georgia Forestry Commission in 1983, he launched a vigorous reforestation campaign on a county-by-county basis that resulted in landowners and foresters in the state setting a world record for number of trees planted in a single season. The commission also established one of the largest tree nurseries and seed orchard complexes in the world during his administration.

- Frankie Sue Del Papa, of Carson City, Nevada, recipient of the Frederick Law Olmsted Award. The award recognizes work at the state or regional level that exemplifies commitment to tree planting and conservation in the improvement of America's communities and landscapes. As the Attorney General for the state of Nevada, Del Papa is a strong advocate for the environment and tree planting. Her most recent project is Trees 2000, with a goal of planting drought-resistant and regionally appropriate trees and wildflowers in every part of Nevada's diverse landscape. The project is co-sponsored by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Service, the USDA Forest Service, and the Nevada Division of Forestry. Now in her third term as Attorney General, Ms. Del Papa's other efforts include spearheading tree-planting work in her role as chair of Nevada's 125th Birthday Celebration in 1990.

- Wendy Ball, of Windsor, Colorado, recipient of a 2001 Lawrence Enersen Award for outstanding tree planting and conservation work at the community level. For more than a decade Ball has been instrumental in revitalizing Windsor's community forest, including through her service on Windsor's Tree Board and her work in implementing a comprehensive tree ordinance. She also plans and helps find financing for the community's annual Arbor Day celebrations and has served on the Board of the Colorado Tree Coalition since it began in 1991.

- Michael Giudici, of Davenport, Iowa, winner of the second 2001 Lawrence Enersen Award for his ongoing work in reforesting Davenport after the devastation of Dutch Elm disease. A cardiologist practicing in Davenport, Guidici founded the Green Way Habitat Program in 1992. Since then, the group has planted 6,500 street trees, and Guidici continues his work in tree planting and education about the importance of a healthy community forest.

- Harry E. Dailey, of Cedarville, Illinois, winner of a Good Steward Award that recognizes those who practice stewardship through their conservation work on private property. Dailey has purchased and reclaimed more than 100 acres of neglected land, adding a pond and implementing an effective tree- and shrub-planting program. Since beginning his work in 1979, he has now planted 2,000 dogwoods and 1,500 mixed pine and hardwood trees. He has also planted native grass and plum trees to enhance wildlife habitat, and has passed his love of tree planting and conservation on to younger family members to continue his work.

- Leroy Orsburn, of Wewoka, Oklahoma, winner of the second 2001 Good Steward Award for his lifetime commitment to tree planting and conservation. A retired farmer and rancher, in 1990 Orsburn started a wildlife habitat improvement plot on land he donated to the Seminole County 4-H Club. Orsburn also provided seedlings and equipment for planting, and under his direction 4-H members have planted trees for conservation and wildlife enhancement. He also schedules and teaches day camps at the site, which is now used as an outdoor classroom for area schools and youth groups.

- The Texas Department of Transportation, winner of the 2001 Lady Bird Johnson award, given for exemplary leadership in roadside beautification. The Houston District of the Texas Department of Transportation has long utilized planting schemes and methods to beautify highways. Many of these plans have succeeded despite climatic obstacles, with a recent major planting achieving a 90% survival rate during one of the hottest and driest summers in decades.

- The Corridor Habitat Initiative, Bloomington, Minnesota, recipient of one of five 2001 Project Awards in recognition of outstanding collaborative efforts involving tree planting and environmental stewardship. The Initiative is a community forestry program designed to lower maintenance costs while environmentally enhancing the land within transmission line right-of-way corridors. The program is administered through the Tree Trust in partnership with the City of Bloomington and was started in 1998. Xcel Energy (formerly known as Northern States Power) sponsors the program, which enriches the area underneath their transmission lines and reduces the maintenance costs of the transmission right-of-ways.

- General Electric Power Systems, of Schenectady, New York, winner of a Project Award. General Electric has transformed much of its 320-acre facility, which employs 4,500 people, back to green spaces and has planted more than 2,200 trees. The area, which is the original 1886 site of Thomas Edison's machine works plant, now boasts such recreational areas as tennis courts and baseball and soccer fields.

- Greenspace—The Cambria Land Trust, Cambria, California, winner of a Project Award for its conservation work in the North Coast Area of California's San Luis Obispo County. Greenspace protects and enhances the area's ecological systems through land acquisition and management, public education, and advocacy. The group was founded in 1988, with one of its current achievements being the preservation of the Cambria Monterey Pine Forest, which contains one of the five remaining populations of Monterey pines.

- The Nashville Tree Foundation, Nashville, Tennessee, honored with a Project Award for ReLeaf Nashville, an effort begun to reforest Nashville's urban forest after the devastating tornadoes of 1998. ReLeaf Nashville includes a five-year plan that has already been responsible for planting thousands of large-caliper trees and developing educational and promotional materials. The Nashville Tree Foundation raised more than a million dollars to help reforest the city.

- The Tazewell-Mason Counties Special Education Association (TMCSEA), of Pekin, Illinois, recipient of the final 2001 Project Award. In 1997, the TMCSEA began creating a wheelchair- accessible nature trail in its 7-acre educational center. With community support, the Association completed the project in 1998 and added onto it in 1999 and 2000. In addition to the accessible trail, improvements include planting more trees and flowerbeds and adding new playground equipment as well as a pavilion, picnic shelters, and a paved trail.

- The Dickinson West Elementary School fifth-grade class, of Hamtramck, Michigan, winner of a 2001 Education Award, designed to recognize educational programs that are worthy models for others. Under the direction of teacher Michael Craig, Dickinson West fifth-graders are actively involved in community conservation efforts. From helping replant trees destroyed by tornadoes to creating a garden on school grounds that one day will provide vegetables and herbs for local soup kitchens, these students are working to improve the environment.

- The e-Club of Dexter Elementary School, Ft. Benning, Georgia, recipient of the second 2001 Education Award for the work of kindergarten and first-grade classes in keeping their school and community environmentally sound. Since its establishment in 1994, the e-Club has grown to include such activities as Campus Watch, operation of a school recycling center, the "Gardening Year Round" program, participation of e-Moms and e-Dads, the upkeep of the Memorial Garden, and a focus on the habitat and creation of an outdoor classroom.

- Trees for Houston, Houston, Texas, winner of this year's final Education Award for the environmental contributions of its two programs, Trees for Schools and Urban ForesTree Keeper. Trees for Schools has provided 3,381 trees for planting at 175 area schools since 1993 and offers educational presentations for elementary school students. Urban ForesTree Keeper classes teach basic tree care instruction to area residents, as well as the fundamentals of tree identification, proper planting and pruning techniques, and site suitability.

- Trees and Our Air, Houston, Texas, winner of the 2001 Public Education Award in recognition of excellence in programs that teach the importance of tree planting, conservation, stewardship, and Arbor Day awareness. Trees and Our Air is an in-depth report published by the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention to counter claims that trees were a part of the air quality problem. The report explains the contributions of trees to cleaner air and the need for increased tree planting and care.

- The Blue Spruce, a children's book written by former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and published by Sleeping Bear Press of Chelsea, Michigan, winner of a 2001 Media Award. The Media Award recognizes the power of the media to capture the attention and imagination of the viewing, listening, and reading public. The book takes its inspiration from a storm that blew down the blue spruce that stood in front of Cuomo's childhood home in Queens and the efforts Cuomo and his father undertook to save the tree more than 50 years ago. Illustrated by Gisbert van Frankenhuyzen, the father-son parable teaches the rewards of hard work, perseverance, and keeping dreams alive. Gov. Cuomo is donating proceeds from the sale of the book to two children's charities, HELP, an organization for homeless children, and MUSA, a mentoring program.

- Hands on the Land—A History of the Vermont Landscape, winner of the second 2001 Media Award, written by Jan Albers and published by the MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. This in-depth study examines the history of Vermont through natural, environmental, social, and human means, and sheds light on such transformations across America.

- Arbor Week 2000, Henderson, Nevada, winner of one of three Celebration Awards for programs that best represent the spirit of the tree planters' holiday. Since Henderson's first one-day celebration in 1997, the event has grown to an entire week and has tripled the number of participants. Arbor Week 2000 reached almost 1,400 students, teaching them about trees and the urban forest and involving them in a poster contest, educational programs at area parks, and relevant classroom preparation. Planting ceremonies were also held at all participating schools, with each student receiving a one-gallon pine tree.

- Texas Tech University's Arbor Day 2000, Lubbock, Texas, winner of a Celebration Award. On April 28, 2000, more than 500 volunteers helped plant over 24,000 trees, shrubs, and flowers on the southern Texas campus. The effort was spearheaded by Campus Caregivers, a group made up of campus and community volunteers and founded by Debbie Montford, wife of Chancellor John Montford. One of the event's themes, "Arbor Day 2000—Plant a Tradition," echoed Texas Tech's first Arbor Day celebration and large-scale tree planting project, held on March 2, 1938.

- The Town of Westlake, Texas, recognized with this year's third Celebration Award. A highlight of Westlake's Arbor Day Celebration was the unveiling of the town's special Arbor Day Heritage Quilt. The quilt was pieced together from the leaf-patterned quilt packets completed by 54 of the town's 85 families. The official Arbor Day Celebration included a community dinner, entertainment and guest speakers, a tree planting, and the distribution of a small tree to each participant.

- Toyota Motor Corporation, recipient of a Promise to the Earth Award. The award recognizes sustained commitment and leadership by a corporation that joins with the Arbor Day Foundation on special projects. Toyota recently awarded the Foundation one of nine international grants given through the Toyota Environmental Activities Support Program to enhance environmental improvement and conservation in Japan and around the world. Under the program, grants are provided to practical projects that are rooted in local communities yet which maintain global viewpoints and promise to contribute to sustainable development. The grant to the Arbor Day Foundation will support continuing youth education programs in tree planting.

- Oak Express, Denver, Colorado, maker of fine furniture and the winner of a Promise to the Earth Award. During the past year, Oak Express has contributed to the replanting of national forests that have been ravaged by fire, disease, and other natural disasters. Oak Express has made significant contributions to Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming and to Targhee National Forest in Idaho.

The National Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit education organization of one million members dedicated to tree planting and environmental stewardship.

For more information, or to contact National Arbor Day Foundation, see their website at: www.arborday.org