Planting Trees at National UMC's Campuses

National UMC was recently approached by an organization that seeks to plant trees, for free, at houses of worship. The organization, Laudato Trees, is a Catholic group that is caring for God's creation by planting trees on the many acres owned by faith-based congregations in the DMV. CaseyTrees is a DC- based organization whose mission is to restore the tree canopy in Washington, D.C.  With approval from National UMC's Board of Trustees, Courtney Leatherman, Mary Rollefson and Richard Tilley, are exploring the possibility of a partnership with these organizations. As a first step, we three met with Philip Downey, the Laudato Trees volunteer, and Dana Gresham, an arborist with Casey Trees. We walked all three National UMC campuses during this 2-hour site evaluation. Dana has produced initial plans that we are currently reviewing. These plans will most likely change as we are in the process of identifying utility lines that may be impacted by a planting. We have aerial maps to show the proposed location and size of the trees on each campus. We would like any comments you may have by October 14 in order that we can finalize our plans and present them to the Trustees for approval.  By the end of the year, we expect the Church will have the final plans to go forward for a spring planting.  Meanwhile, for a one-page overview of the Laudato Trees' mission, click here.  Please send any further questions to: Courtney Leatherman, leatherman.courtney@gmail.com; Richard Tilley, rmtdc1usa@gmail.com or Mary Rollefson maryrollefson45@gmail.com