TMS, TES to host tree-planting event

TALENT ― Talent Middle School and Talent Elementary are about to get a $25,000 outdoor makeover courtesy of several generous donors and the community is invited to roll up its sleeves and lend a hand during a special tree-planting event set for Saturday, April 9.

Scheduled for April to coincide with Oregon’s Arbor Month, the tree-planting is being organized by the City of Talent and the Talent Urban Forestry Committee and will begin with volunteer registration at 10 a.m. at Talent Middle School. After some prepared remarks by Phoenix-Talent superintendent Brent Barry, Talent city councilor Jason Clark and Talent mayor Darby Ayers-Flood followed by a how-to demonstration of the day’s work, volunteers will be mobilized.

“We’re doing this to demonstrate and implement the myriad benefits of urban forestry for the community, and most specifically for the students,” Clark said, “and this is an opportunity for us to grow urban forests and urban foresters. We were really motivated by providing an opportunity for students to actively participate in the climate resiliency of their community because urban forestry plays a critical role in making us a climate-resilient community.”

The plan is to plant 50 trees around the Talent Middle School athletic fields and another 17 on the grounds of Talent Elementary School. The tree species set to be planted include valley oak, red oak, hickory, Zelkova, Kentucky coffee, bald cypress, giant sequoia, coastal redwood, Douglas fir and Jeffrey pine. Volunteers will also replace the 100-plus-year-old World War I Memorial Tree – a bur oak – that was removed last year near the intersection of West Main Street and West Wagner Street after suffering a parasitic mistletoe infestation.

The project comes three years after TUFC’s inaugural project ― it planted 18 trees at TES and 10 at TMS in 2019 ― and is funded entirely by donations. The contributions include a $20,000 grant from the Arbor Day Foundation, a $2,500 grant from One Tree Planted, a $1,500 donation from Jeff and Joyce Schlect, a $1,000 donation from the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District and matching donations from local nursery Plant Oregon.

Complimentary snacks and beverages, as well as tools and gloves, will be provided for volunteers, who are encouraged to dress accordingly for manual labor and inclement weather.

For more information, please contact TUFC chair Mike Oxendine at arboristoxendine@gmail.com.