Green grants for the Big Apple.

Grants through the Global ReLeaf Fund for City Trees for projects throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will make the host community of the 7th National Urban Forest Conference cleaner, greener, and shadier than before AMERICAN FORESTS came to town.

Since 1989, AMERICAN FORESTS has raised and distributed over $2.6 million through the Global ReLeaf Fund for 300 community-based projects across the country.

These are some of the projects awarded grants through contributions by conference sponsors:

Residents from four culturally diverse neighborhood-rehabilitation projects, like Malcolm X Boulevard in Brooklyn, will join together to plant trees with the help of Trees New York and the Enterprise Foundation.

New Jersey ReLeaf's Trees for LIFE program, which improves the quality of life for residents in elder-care facilities, will plant trees and shrubs at the Salem County Nursing Home.

A partnership between Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, City University of New York, and New York ReLeaf will plant trees along Amsterdam Avenue. The first trees will be planted at St. John the Divine Cathedral.

The Greening of Harlem Coalition will bring trees to P.S. 46, P.S. 197, and Harlem Hospital.

Through Project Learning Tree program, the Albany City School District will help make the state capitol a prototype "adopt-a-city" for other communities preparing young people to face a variety of environmental issues; New York City schools will study Catskill watershed issues and the conflict between the city's need for affordable clean water and the Catskill community's need for economic stability; and the Waterman Center in Binghamton, New York, will receive help with its hands-on environmental program for elementary school children.

An educational contest - developed through a partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation - combining history, science, and English learning skills will award three AMERICAN FORESTS' Famous & Historic Trees and educational outreach materials to 40 schools.

The Stamford Tree Foundation will establish a neighborhood tree-planting support program to provide cash grants to a number of targeted planting projects.

Much of the funding for these Global ReLeaf Fund grants has been provided by Texaco and International Paper.

EMILY KNACK

Dues with Growth Potential

Stephan McCrea of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, decided to pay off his carbon debt by planting trees through AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf Forests program. McCrea had 23 trees planted in Florida's Tamiami Pine Preserve as compensation for the C[O.sub.2] emissions from his 1995 travel, apparently in hopes that the trees' carbon-absorbing abilities will allow him to break even.

Since the Global ReLeaf Forests program began in 1990, individuals, corporations, and organizations have donated $1 per tree to help restore tree cover to more than 6,000 acres of damaged or abused land nationwide - a total of over three million trees.

Hundreds of thousands of damaged acres still need our help. To have trees planted at $1 each, call 800/873-5323 or write Global ReLeaf Forests, AMERICAN FORESTS, P.O. Box 2000, Washington, DC 20013.

BILL TIKKALA

Sharing with Youth

Schools and youth groups around the country are supporting AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf program while raising money for their own needs. AMERICAN FORESTS' Sharing in a Better World program provides groups with an alternative fundraiser that has an environmental message.

AMERICAN FORESTS provides groups with tree-selling kits that include 10 certificates or "Tree Shares." For every certificate sold, AMERICAN FORESTS plants a tree in one of its 64 Global ReLeaf Forest restoration sites around the country, and the group keeps part of the proceeds for its own needs.

From January through September 1995, Sharing in a Better World planted over 7,000 trees and raised close to $18,000 for youths across the country. A total of 165,000 trees have been planted since the program began in 1992.

For more information, contact Adam Schoenberg, AMERICAN FORESTS, P.O. Box 2000, Washington, DC 20013; 800/545-TREE.

ADAM SCHOENBERG

Building Greener Neighborhoods

Want the latest on the advantages of saving, planting, and transplanting trees during construction and how to get rewarded for it? new book from the Global ReLeaf for New Communities program offers ideas for enhancing the value of new homes by conserving trees - and lowering costs in the process. The book, "Building Greener Neighborhoods: Trees as Part of the Plan," also showcases builders and developers who practice tree-conserving techniques and describes the benefits that result from receiving a New Communities designation.

Urban forestry consultant Bob Skiera calls the book, "a complete, simple-to-follow guide that describes a sensible approach to saving and integrating trees in the development process."

Global ReLeaf for New Communities is a joint program of AMERICAN FORESTS and the National Association of Home Builders. The program recognizes builders and developers who preserve natural features on development sites. To order the book or find out more about the Global ReLeaf for New Communities program, call 202/667-3300, ext. 236.

LINDA MALLET

Thanks Again

Planting projects in Florida benefited greatly from the generosity of donors to the second annual Global ReLeaf Earth Day Walk for Trees in Miami. AMERICAN FORESTS would like to thank three of those donors who were inadvertently left off the list of sponsors in the July/August magazine: Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management, Peoples Gas, and Texaco.

Urban Ecology Software Debuts

AMERICAN FORESTS has developed a computer software program, "CityGreen: Measuring Urban Ecosystem Values," that shows city managers the benefits of urban forest resources and provides a tool to help them include trees in their community development. AMERICAN FORESTS has been testing this system over the last two years by mapping urban ecosystems (trees, waterways, buildings, streets, grass, etc.) in several U.S. cities and analyzing how the components affect one another economically, environmentally, and socially (see "Urban Ecosystems: Breakthrough for City Green" on page 23).

These "urban ecological analyses" create presentation materials and land-use planning maps. They also calculate economic values including trees' ability to lower home-energy use, reduce excessive runoff during storms, and improve air quality.

CityGreen, which allows local agencies and community foresters to conduct their own urban ecological analysis, is now available to the public. The PC program is easy to use, and the pre-release version sells for $750. For more about CityGreen, call AMERICAN FORESTS at 800/368-5748, ext. 236.

JILL MAHON

Overseas Forest Projects Planned

Tree-planting and outreach projects were on the agenda earlier this year when AMERICAN FORESTS staffers traveled to Slovakia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Bulgaria for meetings on forest projects. The trips were funded by the U.S. Country Studies Program, which provides support for climate change studies in 55 developing and transitional countries. The goal is to identify forest-project priorities and help build sustainable forestry institutions.

A wide range of tree-planting and outreach project ideas were presented at the meetings, attended by VP for Resource Policy Gerry Gray and program associate Tony DiNicola. Global ReLeaf International coordinator Chrystia Sonevytsky, a native of Ukraine, joined them for the meeting there.

Project ideas discussed include planting trees in Ukraine and Russia on land contaminated by the Chernobyl disaster. In Bulgaria, the proposals included reforesting an open-pit coal mine. The projects all include an outreach and education component intended to raise public awareness of the importance of forests and how they relate to climate change.

Project ideas will be developed into formal proposals over the coming months. Potential projects are being discussed in Gambia, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Mexico.

TONY DINICOLA