OTE - Oregon Travel Experience

New trees planted at Grove of the States

Posted on: February 14th, 2017 in News & Press |

Last year, a motivated group of volunteers showed up to push wheelbarrows, swing shovels, and plant 20 replacement trees at the Grove of the States (located at French Prairie Rest Area southbound). Among the many volunteers were two members of the Oregon Travel Information Council (Chair Gwenn Baldwin and Mike Marsh) and OTE Executive Director Nancy DeSouza.

[Make sure to visit the image gallery at the bottom of this page, it was a great day!]

Friends of Trees Volunteer and Outreach Manager Jenny Bedell-Stiles said, “Together, you planted 20 super large stock trees at the French Prairie Rest Stop in Aurora last Saturday! Thank you for your hard work and muddy shoes—your efforts resulted in this rare grove of state trees being completely replanted (hip-hip!). Tree cheers for you and the rejuvenation of this special public arboretum!”

The volunteers’ work is part of a year-long construction phase that has been underway since August 2016 and is scheduled to be completed later this year. More work will begin in the spring to remodel the Grove’s walking paths, install interpretive signs, and final tree plantings.

Tree planting sponsors

Read our Individual State Tree Sponsors below—the list may inspire you and a friend or business to sponsor a tree from your home state, alma mater, or favorite sport team. Maybe your parents met in New York State or you went on a dream trip to Hawaii. Whatever the occasion or reason, your name will be inscribed on a plaque at the tree you sponsor. Is your state tree already sponsored? No worries. We have space for several sponsors on a single tree. For more information on sponsorships, visit the official Grove of the States Sponsorship webpage.

Special thanks for the  GOS major tree planting event goes to the following:

GOS Restoration Project Sponsors Oregon Department of Forestry, Friends of Trees, Oregon State University

Sponsor Donors Kevin Carr (Bartlett Tree Experts), Treecology, General Tree Service, Paul Ries (OSU and ODF), Al Tocchini (ALTO Forestry Consulting), CF&R Reforestation.

Individual State Tree Sponsors Kevin Carr and Bartlett Tree Experts – Massachusetts state tree; Gwenn Baldwin – Maine state tree; Morgan Holen & Associates – Louisiana state tree; Nancy DeSouza – South Dakota state tree; Paul Ries – Ohio state tree; Craig Campbell – Iowa state tree; Jan Martin and Stephanie Inn – North Dakota state tree; Mike Marsh – Colorado state tree; Bob Russell – New Mexico state tree; Ryan Snyder and Martin Hospitality – California state tree; Mike Drennan – Oregon state tree.

Image gallery

It was great fun, and we invite you to stop by the Grove to watch its transformation.

*Click on the first image to enter the gallery and view larger size images (instructions for full size inside the gallery). Press the “escape” key to leave the gallery at any time.