Seedlings for Success.

From planting trees to cultivating tomatoes, AMERICAN FORESTS' own Bill Tikkala shows how dedication and good humor make an organization grow.

No employer looks forward to hearing "I'm leaving," form a valued employee. But when AMERICAN FORESTS' special project forester uttered that phrase a few months ago. Executive Director Deborah Gangloff blurted. "You can't do that!"

Unfortunately, even Gangloff's protestations couldn't stop him. After 18 years with AMERICAN FORESTS, Willard R. "Tik" Tikkala retired in June. During his tenure, Tikkala, who turns 75 in July, went from a one-day-a-week volunteer to a full-time staffer in charge of the Global ReLeaf program. His efforts transformed a small-tree-planting effort into a nationally popular program.

"Tik is solely responsible for growing accurate and community relevant way," Gangloff says. "He's a people person. He was the perfect guy to grow and expand the program."

After serving three years in the U.s. Navy during World War II, Tikkala returned to his home state to complete a bachelor of science degree in forestry at the University of Michigan. He spent a year teaching math and science to 7th, 8th, and 9th graders before joining the U.S. Forest Service in 1951.

His 30-year career began with fighting fires and managing timber in California. He moved to Milwaukee and in 1963 joined the state and private forestry cooperative fire protection division, allowing him to work with local agencies. Tikkala relocated to Washington in the 1970s as the agency's director of cooperative fire protection, coordinating fire activities for all 50 states as well as the Smokey Bear program.

Tikkala's experiences at the Forest Service taught him the technical, management, and organizational skills he needed to propel Global ReLeaf into a nationally recognized tree-planting program. From the first year, when AERICAN FORESTS planed just 23,000 trees, to this year's 3 million seedlings, Tikkala "was a real asset," Gangloff says.

Tikkala negotiated with local partners, choosing the best and most varied projects. His strict standards and scientific background built credibility for the new program, says Karen Fedor, director of Global ReLeaf.

"Tik is the cornerstone of the Global ReLeaf pro-gram." Fedor says. "The mechanisms he put in place will last for years. He believes in AMERICAN FORSTS' mission--to improve the land with trees and forests."

But he did more. As director for the organization's tour programs, Tikkala filled vacations with helpful forestry facts. And his quirky sense of humor, warmth, and propensity for silly jokes made him popular with Global ReLeaf partners and staff alike. His motto: "You have to find a little bit of fun in each day."

Fee days went by without a joke about Tikkala's ancestral Finland or the scent of his freshly grown popcorn wafting down the hallway. Some remember Tikkala leaving a fur-covered Norwegian troll wherever he found a mess, his nice way of saying he likes orderliness. As staff "factotum," he was the person who "knows a lot of things but not necessarily anything very well," he jokes.

He'll miss his co-workers, Tikkala says, and the many tree-planting partners he had never met but who "feel like old buddies" after multiple phone calls. But he looks forward to spending more time in his 100-foot-by-150-foot garden, where he tends to the baby tomatoes and other veggies as carefully as he nurtured Global ReLeaf. His five children and six grandchildren will help Tikkala and his wife. JoAnne, celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary June 25.

Not bad for a man affectionately known around the office as "the old forester." Despite these accomplishments, though, Tikkala remains humble.

"The organization is on sound footing and the [Global ReLeaf] program is in good shape," he says. "I just hope my contributions have made it better."

J. Guglielmino is American Forests' associate editor.