In 2000, inspired by such sentiment towards trees as that captured in the quote above, 25 Woodlanders established the Woodland Tree Foundation as a private, not-for-profit community organization. The mission of WTF is:  Creating a healthy urban forest for the City of Trees. 

I am a board member of WTF.  Our officers include:  David Wilkinson, President; Marjorie Holmes Brown, Vice President; Whit Manley, Secretary; and, B.J. Ford, Treasurer.  WTF’s work is supported by donations and grants.  Over its first six years of existence, WTF has received $45,000 in grants, thousands of dollars in cash and in-kind donations and more than a thousand hours of volunteer time.  So far we have planted 1,229 trees in and around Woodland.  Plantings have occurred in city parks, schools, along streets and highways, and in parking lots.  We have taught hundreds of school children about trees and their benefits, and participated in public outreach events like Arbor Day.

Speaking of Arbor Day…On March 10^th, from 10 A.M. until 4 P.M., we will be helping to celebrate this national recognition of trees at the Yolo County Historical Museum (Gibson Mansion).  If you want to learn more about the WTF, plan on attending this event.  Many other community service and conservation organizations will be there to offer advice, demonstrations, tools and information on tree planting, composting, water conservation and other related topics.  The celebration will also offer a plant sale, tours, games, food, music and, of course, the planting of trees.  To kick off Arbor Day, at 10:00 A.M. a plaque will be placed near an oak tree in City Park (at Cross and Walnut Streets) that was planted on Arbor Day exactly 100 years ago by the Shakespeare Club.  The Club and the WTF will then team-up to plant the Park’s new century oak to mark Arbor Day 2007. 

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This column, “Town and Trees,” is the first in what will be a monthly column on trees. Over the coming year, this column will address such topics as the benefits of trees; planting and caring for trees; old and unusual trees in Woodland; profiles on different tree species; tree planting opportunities; and, even tree poetry.  We welcome your comments, especially suggestions for column topics.  We also welcome your donations.  (You can send donations to WTF, P.O. 8753, Woodland, 95776.)  To be added to our e-mail list to receive WTF news, or to send in comments and ideas for this column, please e-mail me at kkbtrott@aol.com.