Door County, Wisconsin. (September 17, 2020) – Planting trees is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to combat global warming, and this fall the Climate Change Coalition of Door County (CCC) is once again helping Door County do its part. The CCC is distributing nearly 900 trees through local schools, environmental organizations, churches, youth programs and local businesses this month.
With funding from a Cellcom Green Gift Grant and a Climate Adaptation Grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society to the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, the CCC is distributing 650 trees, along with more than 200 donated by Lakeshores Landscape and Design, Door Landscape and others.
Distribution began Sept. 21. Members of the public are welcome to pick up trees beginning Sept. 28 at the Ridges Sanctuary, Baileys Harbor; Greens N Grains in Egg Harbor; and the Door County Land Trust, 23 N. 5th Ave., Sturgeon Bay.
The trees are native conifers, including white cedar, black spruce, red pine, balsam fir and white pine. Trees from the landscaping firms have gone to Gibraltar Elementary School students; Friends of Gibraltar Project Coordinator Vinnie Choumeau is spearheading the school project.
Participating faith groups include the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Door County, Stella Maris Roman Catholic Parish, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and Shepherd of the Bay and Prince of Peace Lutheran churches.
Crossroads at Big Creek and the Northern Door Children’s Center are also participating. Businesses who have signed the Door County Climate Declaration, pledging to adopt sustainability principles in their operations, are receiving trees as well. And trees will be available to attendees at CCC’s outdoor screening of the acclaimed documentary Blowout at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Sturgeon Bay.
Tree planting is one of the most effective ways to help the environment. Trees provide essential habitat, clear pollution from the air, prevent soil erosion, protect groundwater, and reduce energy consumption through windbreaks and shading. Perhaps most importantly, trees are the lungs of the Earth, breathing in carbon dioxide and breathing out the oxygen on which life depends. By this sequestering of carbon dioxide, they are thus a critical way to address climate change, which is caused in large part by excessive carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels.
The Climate Change Coalition of Door County is a non-partisan organization that through education, outreach and civil dialogue increases public understanding of climate change and its many detrimental impacts at home and around the world. Your donation for the Climate Change Coalition to our fiscal agent, Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, is tax-deductible as allowed by law. Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership is a 501(c)(3) organization.