Students in three pilot communities to explore forestry
careers and social equity through data and hands-on
projects
SEATTLE, Dec. 6, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) and
American Forests, the nation's oldest national nonprofit
conservation organization, today announced a new partnership on an
innovative initiative to expand American Forests' Tree Equity
program into smaller, more rural communities and provide
environmental education focused on careers in urban and community
forestry to hundreds of youth. The program aims to identify and
tackle disparities in tree canopy cover in three communities where
Weyerhaeuser employees live and work and provide replicable best
practices for communities nationwide. Students in those communities
will learn about environmental justice issues and design a green
project that gives them a window into the field of forestry.
To kick off the initiative, 20 high school students studying
green careers and social equity will put their knowledge to work
this week, planting dozens of trees in a community park alongside
local Weyerhaeuser volunteers in Ruston,
La. The students are among roughly 200 at Ruston High School
who were the first to engage with a new curriculum designed by
American Forests with support from Weyerhaeuser and Project
Learning Tree.
Weyerhaeuser's partnership with American Forests is unique in
that it brings the issue of Tree Equity beyond cities and into
smaller communities also facing challenges of climate resilience
and equity.
The project is built around American Forests' Tree Equity Score
(treeequityscore.org), a tool that helps gauge which neighborhoods
in a community need trees the most. Until now, American Forests has
only used the tool to calculate neighborhood scores nationwide for
"urbanized areas," or those with 50,000 people or more. With the
support of Weyerhaeuser, the organization will apply the tool to
"urban clusters," areas with populations between 2,500 and 50,000,
making the tool more accessible than ever and helping ensure that
everyone experiences the health and climate benefits that trees
provide no matter their race, income, age or neighborhood.
"This project provides creative solutions to some of the
cross-cutting challenges in our rural communities, including health
and climate change," says Ara
Erickson, vice president of corporate sustainability at
Weyerhaeuser. "By adapting the novel Tree Equity Score to smaller
communities and piloting it in our own operating areas, we are
directly helping more communities adapt to a changing climate and
remain thriving places to live."
Unveiled last summer for the nation's 486 urbanized areas, the
Tree Equity Score measures how well a neighborhood or municipality
is ensuring the benefits of urban tree canopy reach every resident,
particularly those susceptible to extreme heat, air pollution and
other conditions. User-friendly and free to use, the tool has
helped shine a light on pervasive disparities in tree canopy: Data
show that in cities across the nation, whiter and wealthier
neighborhoods tend to have more tree cover than neighborhoods with
people of color and more low-income residents.
"Not all neighborhoods are starting from the same place when it
comes to trees," says Jad Daley,
president and chief executive officer of American Forests. "This is
true in less populated communities as well as urban centers. As a
company with deep roots in its communities, Weyerhaeuser
understands this, and together we're extending the reach of our
Tree Equity Score and technical assistance to help smaller
communities work toward Tree Equity — ensuring that their most
vulnerable people also are protected from the impacts of extreme
heat and air pollution."
Weyerhaeuser and American Forests selected the project's three
pilot locations based on several criteria, including demographics,
government support for green priorities, health equity needs and
the role of nonprofits in tree planting and environmental
justice. After Ruston, La., the
partners will implement the program in Tacoma, Wash., and also Natchitoches, La. Ruston and Natchitoches represent urban clusters and are
home to Weyerhaeuser timberlands and a wood products manufacturing
facility, respectively. Tacoma is
an urbanized area and home to one of Weyerhaeuser's distribution
centers.
American Forests will also pilot in Ruston its Tree Equity Score Analyzer, a
deeper dive into a community's urban forestry needs. This
interactive tool supports both policy and project-level
interventions by incorporating local data such as hospitalizations,
carbon sequestration and flood risk, with ownership parcels. TESA
can help community groups, residents, urban foresters, planners and
community advocates identify parcel-specific planting opportunities
and project how different tree planting scenarios will impact a
Tree Equity Score and factors such as carbon captured, air quality
and storm water. Community members will join a stakeholder council
to help inform the process with local expertise and
recommendations.
Tree Equity Score is also the cornerstone of the new Tree Equity
Curriculum: Exploring Green STEAM Careers, first introduced in
Ruston this fall and expected to
expand to other schools over the next year. Students will use the
Tree Equity Score to learn about equity issues and design projects
that address disparities in green spaces. Building on Project
Learning Tree's Green Jobs Quiz, the curriculum allows students to
explore urban and community forestry and its intersection with
factors such as ecosystem services, pollution, income, ethnicity,
age and health.
After taking the quiz, students are matched with a related green
occupation and then work in groups to design a greening project.
Through hands-on volunteer opportunities, they'll help lead
activities such as tree selection, site assessment, tree
procurement and planting, and creating a maintenance plan.
Weyerhaeuser employee volunteers will work with the students to
implement the projects in their communities.
By providing meaningful experiences to students, Weyerhaeuser
and American Forests hope to inspire young people's passion for the
environment and to pursue careers in urban and community forestry.
Even as the desire to plant and maintain trees and forests for
climate and public health grows more urgent, there aren't enough
people qualified to do the work.
"Building a workforce that can respond to this need will help
create both climate and economic resilience in smaller
communities," says Anne Leyva,
manager of people development and giving programs for Weyerhaeuser.
"Weyerhaeuser is thrilled to partner on the Tree Equity project and
provide additional support for our operating communities — helping
them thrive today and for future generations."
ABOUT WEYERHAEUSER
Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest private owners
of timberlands, began operations in 1900. We own or control
approximately 11 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and
manage additional timberlands under long-term licenses in
Canada. We manage these
timberlands on a sustainable basis in compliance with
internationally recognized forestry standards. We are also one of
the largest manufacturers of wood products in America. Our
company is a real estate investment trust. In 2021, we generated
$10.2 billion in net sales and
employed approximately 9,200 people who serve customers worldwide.
Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol WY. Learn more at www.weyerhaeuser.com.
ABOUT AMERICAN FORESTS
Since our founding in 1875, American Forests has been the
pathfinder for creating healthy forests from coast to coast. We are
now driven by two critical issues: climate change and social
inequities. Our work focuses on creating healthy and resilient
forests, from cities to large natural landscapes, that deliver
essential benefits for climate, people, water and wildlife. We
advance our mission through forestry innovation, place-based
partnerships and movement building. Learn more at
americanforests.org
For more information contact:
Weyerhaeuser
Analysts – Andy Taylor,
206-539-3907
Media – Nancy Thompson,
919-861-0342
American Forests
Media – Michele
Kurtz, 617-803-9293
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SOURCE Weyerhaeuser Company