Davey Tree Recognizes Arbor Day

Every tree counts.

And this past week, employees at corporate office got a glimpse of just how much some big trees are worth. The more than 200 employees were surprised Friday —Arbor Day — when they arrived at their job to find 10 large trees adorned with big green tags that put an actual dollar value on our trees. The National Tree Benefit Calculator, developed by Davey scientists and partners, was used to determine the tree values.

These are the same tree value tags Davey arborists used to show Chicagoans just how much their city trees contribute to their community. In support of The Morton Arboretum, Davey arborists joined volunteers to tag more than 3,500 trees in downtown Chicago and the surrounding suburbs late last week.

Hundreds of Davey employees participated in local community events by planting trees, raising awareness about tree benefits and educating students about the value of urban forests for Earth Day and Arbor Day this year. Here is a quick list of just some of the key ways Davey employees celebrated Arbor Day and Earth Day:

Approximately 25 Davey employees and family members joined 600 other volunteers and helped plant 15,000 trees — 10,000 of which were donated by Davey — at the Flight 93 Memorial near Shanksville, Penn. The work, done over two weekends, is part of a planned 150,000-tree reforestation effort.

A dozen Davey employees and volunteers from the Morton Arboretum worked to raise awareness that “Every Tree Counts” throughout Chicago and its suburbs. Large “value tags” highlighted the benefits of more than 3,500 trees based on tree size, location and species, including the ability to slow water runoff, cool buildings and capture climate-changing carbon dioxide. The National Tree Benefit Calculator, developed by Davey scientists and partners, was used to determine the tree values.

On Arbor Day, Davey teamed up with Chicago Gateway Green to plant a 3-inch diameter white oak tree at Navy Pier’s Gateway Park in honor of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” During Oprah Winfrey’s farewell shows in May 2011, Diane Sawyer revealed that in honor of Oprah’s 25 seasons on air, Davey would plant trees at 25 school locations across the country and donate an additional 25,000 trees to areas of the country that were touched by disasters. The trees donated at the Flight 93 memorial, Joplin and Alabama were part of the donation.

This spring, Davey donated 5,000 trees each to the Joplin and Alabama Tree Recovery Campaigns. Both campaigns were launched by the Arbor Day Foundation to help replant trees destroyed in Northern Alabama and Joplin, Mo., by last spring’s tornadoes.

On Arbor Day, The Arbor Day Foundation also announced Davey as the recipient of the “Beacon Award.” The award was given to recognize the company’s outstanding contribution to tree planting, conservation and stewardship.

In addition, Davey employees across the country attended Earth Day and Arbor Day fairs, and talked to students, gardeners and communities about Arbor Day and the importance and benefits of trees.