Elias Brookings School Celebrates Arbor Day!

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City Forester Ed Casey (right) teaches students at Elias Brookings School about the importance of trees.

Students at the Elias Brookings school showed their commitment to the environment by celebrating Arbor Day on Friday April 27th.  Students in the fifth grade classes performed songs and dressed up as trees to show their appreciation for the many benefits that trees bring to our community.  Joining principal Terry Powe were Alan Ingram, Superintendent of Springfield Schools,  Densie Jordan, Chief of Staff for Mayor Domenic Sarno, and representatives from Congressmen Richard Neal’s offices.

Ed Casey, City Forester, was on hand to teach the students about the importance of trees and to plant a tree at the school building.  After the program, the students went outside to help plant the horsechestnut tree.  Mr. Casey also gave every student at the school a white pine seedling to take home and plant.  To learn more about Arbor Day visit the Arbor Day Foundation website at: http://www.arborday.org/arborday/

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Paperboard Packaging Council Donates Tree for Court Square

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The Paperboard Packaging Council, which is headquartered in the Sovereign Bank building on Court Square downtown, assisted representatives of the city’s forestry department and ReGreen Springfield, Inc. in planting a Princeton Elm tree at the far end of Court Square Park on Wednesday, April 18, 2012.

The Paperboard Packaging Council was the first entity to step forward to offer to donate money last June to the City of Springfield to help replace some of the trees lost in last year’s devastating tornado.

Following the event, members of the Paperboard Packaging Council handed out tree saplings free to the community.

The tree planting coincides with the Council’s annual Trees Into Cartons, Cartons Into Trees program, in which PPC members from across the country and Canada help to educate students and their community about the environmental benefits of trees and the importance of recycling.

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Neighborhood Nestwatch Citizen Science Program Comes to Springfield

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Ever wonder if the Robins nesting in your backyard were the same birds nesting there last year? If they were color banded, then you would know. Amazingly, many birds breed in the same place year after year. Would you like to help scientists answer important questions about birds in your own backyard?
 
The US Forest Service Northern Research Station based at the University of Massachusetts is joining forces with the Smithsonian Institution to bring their signature Neighborhood Nestwatch citizen science program to Springfield, MA. Urban sprawl is destroying wildlife habitat at an unprecedented rate, adversely impacting birds and increasing public isolation from nature. Neighborhood Nestwatch seeks to mitigate these efforts as citizens and scientists gather the data necessary to understand how rapid land conversion impacts backyard bird populations. The project offers the opportunity to learn about bird biology in your own backyard. If you live in the Springfield, MA area, then you are eligible to participate in a mentored experience in which Northern Research Station scientists visit your backyard once every summer to band birds and help you find nests. They’ll also teach you how to keep track of the banded birds, collect nesting data and monitor year-to-year survival for scientific study. Ultimately, Neighborhood Nestwatch will provide scientific data and public awareness to aid in the associated goals of conservation and responsible growth. Time commitment is approximately five hours per month for three months (May – July).

If you are interested in participating in this citizen-science project, email Susannah Lerman at slerman@cns.umass.edu

Posted in East Forest Park, Forest Park, McKnight, NEWS, Old Hill, Six Corners, Sixteen Acres, South End, Uncategorized, Upper Hill | Leave a comment