MILLENNIUM GREEN TAKES ROOT.

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton kicked off the Millennium Green campaign at a December event on the Washington Mall, challenging Americans to plant 250 million trees by 2001 to revitalize the nation's environment.

Millennium Green seeks to recognize and protect America's trees by identifying historic trees, gardens, and open spaces and educating children about the value of trees and forests. It's a program of the White House Millennium Council; the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Education, Justice, and Interior; the Environmental Protection Agency; and AMERICAN FORESTS, and other nonprofit organizations.

"We are calling on every business, every school, and every citizen to give a gift to the future by planting a tree or cultivating a garden," Clinton said. "We want to create a national movement of people, young and old, who will help preserve our historic trees and groves--and plant seeds of hope for the future."

With AMERICAN FORESTS' satellite images of tree loss in the District of Columbia as a backdrop, Clinton spoke to a crowd of several hundred that included Agriculture Secretary Dan Gilckman, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, Education Secretary Richard Riley, and AMERICAN FORESTS' Executive Director Deborah Gangloff. Clinton also praised Glickman for his recent announcement that USDA would plant 100 of AMERICAN FORESTS' Famous & Historic Trees in "Millennium Groves" in each state and the five territories.

Join the Millennium Green campaign's efforts to, as Clinton said, "plant one tree for every single American." Your community can create its own Millennium Grove to be counted toward AMERICAN FORESTS' goal of 20 million new trees for the millennium.