Volunteers to plant more than 120 trees
in Barton Park as part of National NeighborWoods Month

Contact: 
David Forsell, 317-223-5180                                       

Project takes place from 9:00 a.m. to noon, 10/12/07. Tree planting with Mayor will take place at 11:00 a.m.

Barton Park is located at 2334 N. Capitol Avenue.  Parking is available at the 21^st Century School at 2540 N. Capitol Avenue.

Media Availability: 11:00-11:30 Interviews and photos available with:

Mayor Bart Peterson

David Forsell, President, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc.

Alice Ewen Walker, Executive Director, Alliance for Community Trees

Joseph Wynns, Director, Indy Parks

Lindsey Purcell, City Forester     

Chris Barnett, Economic Development Coordinator, Near North Development Corporation

Community Volunteers

Indianapolis-October 10, 2007—Mayor Bart Peterson will plant a tree with local and national executives this Saturday.  Executive Director Alice Ewen Walker, from the Alliance for Community Trees (College Park, MD), David Forsell, President, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc.; and Indy Parks Director Joe Wynns will plant a tree with the Mayor, then tour Barton Bark, located on the city’s  near north side, where volunteers will be planting 120 large, native trees.  They group also plans to discuss urban forestry, and its role in creating a better environment.  

The tree planting project, funded by Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL), managed by Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. and Indy Parks, and organized by Near North Development Corporation, will create much needed shade in public spaces of the park, add trees along Fall Creek, and over the years, will have increasing benefits to the quality of the water in Fall Creek.

“This is so much more than a tree planting, says Chris Barnett, economic development coordinator for Near North Development Corporation.  “This is one of many steps necessary to improve an underutilized neighborhood park, restore and enhance an important section of the Historic Kessler Park and Boulevard System, implement the greenspace recommendations of the Meridian Street Improvement Plan, and set the stage for completion of the Fall Creek Trail in the Near North area.”

The planting is one of 11 projects taking place locally to celebrate National NeighborWoods Month. These events are some of more than 200 regreening, educational, and training efforts throughout the country being promoted during October.  NeighborWoods Month is a national campaign of the Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) and sponsored by the Home Depot Foundation.  Keep Indianapolis Beautiful is a member of ACT’s NeighborWoods Network.  

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful was recently awarded a grant from The Home Depot Foundation from a competitive group of cities nationwide that are staging tree planting campaigns. "KIB's NeighborWoods Program is an exemplary model of partnership between the city, the business community, civic organizations, and residents all working together toward an ambitious and inspiring goal," said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation. Since 2005, The Home Depot Foundation has dedicated $1.5 million in assistance to support NeighborWoods programs in cities across the US, working in partnership with the national nonprofit organization Alliance for Community Trees. 

"The role trees play in creating healthy, livable communities is invaluable. At The Home Depot Foundation, we believe that trees are an untapped resource that can be used to help cities deal with the pollution of our air and water, cool our city streets, reduce crime, reduce asthma and improve our overall health," said Caffarelli.

“NeighborWoods, our local partnership with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful to plant 100,000 trees in the next ten years, will pay dividends for years and years to come,” says Peterson. “These beautiful trees clean our air and water, add beauty to our parks, neighborhoods and streets, and demonstrate local government’s commitment to our local environment.”  Forsell says that trees have many benefits.

“Research shows that trees not only contribute to a better environment, but that green spaces tend to be safer places. University of Illinois research indicates a strong correlation between the preponderance of green space, and reductions in property crime, violent crime, and domestic crime. Combine these benefits with the beauty trees provide, and the contributions they make to developing strong and vibrant neighborhoods, and you can see why we’re pushing so hard to plant trees throughout Marion County.”

Alice Ewen Walker says that Indianapolis is a national leader in community forestry.

“Keep Indianapolis Beautiful’s NeighborWoods model is research-based. It is a city-wide initiative, but within that, specifically targets places in Indianapolis with high crime, little tree canopy and little disposable income. These hot spots also are defined by their proximity to industry and high traffic. Indianapolis’ leaders understand the multitude of benefits trees provide.”

 “Trees are part of the solution to local environmental challenges, but also national and global concerns related to climate change,” says Ewen Walker. “Trees absorb carbon, and remove pollutants that contribute to greenhouse gases. Cities have a very significant impact, and therefore can be a significant part of the solution to these threats to the environment.”

Volunteers from the neighborhood, IPL, and Tree Stewards, will be joined by Americorps, Ivy Tech, and Rupert’s Kids to plant 120 trees and then install beaver cages to protect the trees.  Supplies for the beaver fencing were donated by Clarian Health. 

Together, working with neighborhoods throughout Indianapolis, more than 5,000 trees have been planted since the inception of the local NeighborWoods program.  Founding corporate sponsors of the local initiative include IPL, Veolia Water, Founding corporate sponsors of the local initiative include IPL and Veolia Water.

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