BOOKMONGER
A time to plant trees
New book inspires action,
environmental awareness
This week’s book
While some leaders have been slow to
respond to the pressing dangers posed by a
changing climate, us common folk are not
without power. Our actions, if considered col-
lectively, can trend the climate toward a liv-
able future.
One of the ways we can support positive
change is to invest eff orts in an ages old solu-
tion, remarkable in its capacity to suck car-
bon dioxide out of the atmosphere and seques-
ter carbon on a long-term basis, that is trees
and forests.
A new book co-written by Seattle garden-
ing expert Lorene Edwards Forkner and Dan
Lambe, president and chief executive of the
Arbor Day Foundation, and published by Port-
land-based Timber Press, is an ode to the valu-
able functionality of trees.
“Now Is the Time for Trees” is also an
ardent call to become part of a solution, not
only by planting individual trees but also by
getting involved in reforestation eff orts that
‘Now Is the Time for Trees’ by Dan Lambe,
with Lorene Edwards Forkner
Timber Press – 216 pp – $19.95
need to take place on a massive scale because
this, the book asserts, is “the number one
nature-based solution for reversing the nega-
tive eff ects of a changing climate.”
But the book begins with a chapter that
engages readers on a more personal level, a
reminder of the important role trees play in
everyday life. The book frames individual
experiences in gardens and neighborhoods,
n ational p arks and events of collective con-
sciousness as reminders of signifi cant events in
history. One example the book gives is the sur-
vivor tree at the National September 11 Memo-
rial & Museum in New York City, which I had
the privilege of visiting earlier this year.
In addition to the compelling emotional
attachment many have to specifi c trees, groves
or forests, there is also a growing body of sci-
entifi c evidence that demonstrates positive
impacts that trees have on human and environ-
mental health. These range from the aforemen-
tioned ability to fi lter pollutants out of air, to
the capacity to prevent fl ooding, fi lter storm-
water, provide habitat for wildlife and shield
things to do.
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both humans and other animals from danger-
ous heat. Many trees also provide food for us.
Now, there is even proof that the presence
of trees actually provides a calming function
for the human psyche. Research shows that
outdoor spaces without trees suff er more from
graffi ti, littering, vandalism and other crimes.
This book devotes pages to diff erent tree
planting programs that are underway across
the globe. Many of them are sponsored by the
Arbor Day Foundation, such as the Tree City
USA program, while others involve green-
ing of school and hospital campuses. Oth-
ers focus on the restoration of rainforests as
well as forests decimated by climate fi res,
and even an epic eff ort called the Great Green
Wall, which involves the reversal of desertifi -
cation along a 5,000 mile long swath of Afri-
ca’s Sahel region, by replanting with trees and
other vegetation.
In short, opportunities abound to preserve
existing trees and to plant new ones. This book
contains inspiration and solid advice on how to
make a positive contribution by planting trees.
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMi-
chael, who writes this weekly column focusing
on books, authors and publishers of the Pacifi c
Northwest. Contact her at barbaralmcm@
gmail.com.