Through our tree advocacy efforts, ReGreen Springfield has collaborated with businesses, community organizations, educational partners and government agencies to promote the reforestation of Springfield, improve growing conditions for trees and engage new allies in tree care and monitoring, education and citizen science. We realize that the strength of our city is found in the neighborhoods. With this as the foundation for our work, we have embarked on an effort to ‘regreen’ the city… one tree at at time.
Please join Regreen Springfield in this reforestation effort by planting a tree in your own yard, helping to plant trees along our streets and in our parks, or donate your time or funds to neighborhood regreening efforts. With your help, Springfield’s urban forest will be restored.
During this uneasy time of social distancing and staying safe at home, it can be a great time for learning, and we at ReGreen Springfield want to provide some tools for you to share with you and your family.
We’ve gathered a list of online resources for using to introduce trees and the natural world via the web. These have been assembled in partnership with the Morton Arboretum and the Arboretum at Forest Park.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources offers hundreds of brochures, fact sheets, guides, and reports designed to inform citizens, educators, and business people about Illinois’ natural resources. Most of the publications are free of charge and may be ordered.[http://www.dnr.state.il.us/publications/index.htm]
Treetures characters activities developed by U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, American Forests, America the Beautiful Fund, United Nations Environment Program, and Davey Tree Expert Company.[http://www.treetures.com/FunActivities/funandactivi.htm]
Conservation Education – Website developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. [http://www.fs.usda.gov/]
Soil Education – website developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Services [http://soils.usda.gov/education/]
Environmental Education – website developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. [http://www2.epa.gov/education/]
The Michigan Forests Forever online Teachers Guide is good source for teachers wanting to teach about trees. The site is sponsored by Michigan State University Extension, the Michigan Forest Resource Alliance, and the Michigan Forest Association. [http://mff.dsisd.net/]
Block Party in the Square (Gunn Square, Springfield, MA)
Join us for a free old fashioned barbecue, entertainment and giveaways for the whole family! Have some fun and engage in your community!
Hosted by Regreen Springfield and Greening the Gateway Cities Springfield, this neighborhood event will be held on Saturday, October 19, 2019 from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
The Forest Park Arboretum in Springfield has been awarded a Level II Accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum, for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism.
The Forest Park Arboretum is also now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.
Over the past two years, ReGreen Springfield, in partnership with the Springfield Parks Department and the USDA Forest Service, has spearheaded the effort to create the Forest Park Arboretum, building upon the rich botanic collection and horticultural features of the Park. Working with volunteer community ‘Arboretum Assistants’ over 400 trees have been catalogued and mapped, and identification tags have been placed on nearly 225 trees. It is hoped that all the trees will be tagged by end of October. Volunteers are needed for this effort, if this is something that might be interest to you.
Also, the Arboretum will be announcing a series of community events, taking place in over the next few months. These will include educational talks, tours and tree identification sessions. Please look for details coming soon. Please visit www.regreenspringfield.org/fparboretum to learn more about the newly designated Forest Park Arboretum and to keep up with the latest news.
Through our tree advocacy efforts, ReGreen Springfield has collaborated with businesses, community organizations, educational partners and government agencies to promote the reforestation of Springfield, improve growing conditions for trees and engage new allies in tree care and monitoring, education and citizen science. We realize that the strength of our city is found in the neighborhoods. With this as the foundation for our work, we have embarked on an effort to ‘regreen’ the city… one tree at at time.
