Town of The Blue Mountains

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About Tree Trust TBM

Tree Trust TBM was established in July of 2020 with a mandate to look after landmark, established trees in our community.

While preserving legacy trees was our initial mission, our experience to date demonstrates that Tree Trust is a practical mechanism for community members to become involved and support their own urban forest. Taking care of mature trees offers a transformational opportunity; caring for mature trees is a symbolic and inspiring way to start engaging with climate solutions.

Since our launch, we have cared for five Sugar Maples – including a grand 225-year-old tree on the Georgian Trail. You can learn about all of our Tree Trust Trees here. As an extension project to complement the work we do at Tree Trust, we have started a native seed nursery with the intention of closing the loop.

Recap of 2022

As the wonderful late fall weather comes to a close, I wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our Treetrust TBM donors and volunteers who made this past summer a great year for trees in TBM.  Our list of activities and accomplishments is large, especially considering we are 100% volunteer effort and community funded. This year, with tremendous donor and volunteer support from all of you, TC Rotary and with funding from the TBM Environmental Sustainability Fund we were able to purchase and plant $5,000 dollars worth of tree nursery stock.  This meant we stretched beyond our usual focus on tree care for older trees and here is a summary of what we accomplished this year:

• Planted hundreds of saplings in two locations of the Georgian Trail with the help of close to 100 volunteers and huge logistic support from TC Rotary. Thank you to all of the volunteers who regularly watered these trees! 
• Planted 30, ten-foot trees at Heritage Park and Delphi Point Park.
• Sold and distributed over 50, six-foot potted sugar maple trees for residents to plant on their own properties.
• Cared for two heritage trees (both more than 100 years old) in Heritage Park and plant 4 “understudy” trees to eventually take over.  Sunderland Insurance was the generous donor for these understory trees. 

• Delivered educational programming to grades 1-5 and 7 -8 Beaver Valley Community School classes.
• And finally, our native tree seedling nursery continues to expand with additional plantings of small saplings all sourced from our older legacy trees.  These trees will soon be large enough to plant back out into the community.  

So, all in all, a great year for trees and impressive community support. 

A HUGE thank you to volunteers and donors who made ALL of this happen.  Also, many thanks to our corporate donors (Arboreal TreeCare, Willowstone, Garden Holistics, Sutherland Insurance and The Blue Mountain Village Association). The Blue Mountain Review has played a vital role in promoting our efforts and has regularly published articles and announcements about Treetrust events (some articles can be found in the June 28, June 7, July 19, October 4 and November 1^st issues). 

If you would like to donate, buy a seasonal Tree Trust gift card, volunteer or get more information about Tree Trust – write me an email; [email protected] or go to our website www.treetrust.ca (and go to the TBM community page link) . Also, please let me know if you would no longer like to receive any future email updates (usually a couple per year) or if you received a duplicate of this email.  

Betty Muise, TBM Tree Trust Coordinator

Community Events 2022

Summer-Fall backyard tree planting program:  Tree Trust will be using a grant from the TBM Environmental Sustainability Fund to implement a tree planting program to provide and encourage trees to be planted in residents’ back yards. This program will roll out over the summer. There will be many different volunteer needs, including looking after potted trees, helping us with the tree-day giveaway, supporting residents to determine the right tree for the right place, and doing some after-care and survey/research work.  Please reach out to [email protected] to volunteer for this effort.

A note about our advocacy work: Over the past fall and winter, Tree Trust contributed comments and made deputations to TBM Town Council regarding a proposed tree cutting bylaw and tree preservation opportunities related to the Thornbury West Reconstruction Project. Although this is beyond the scope of our normal, hands-on tree care and planting activities, it is extremely important work since Council’s decisions can have a huge impact on our precious tree canopy. We are seeing large and growing numbers of residents from across TBM regularly demanding that trees become a top priority in Town decision-making. As a volunteer organization, we have limited capacity for advocacy, so be sure to add your voice to Council and town staff about the importance of trees in our community. You can learn more about Town activities and how to comment at www.thebluemountains.ca.   

Our native seed nursery

Community sponsors and supporters

Our community support has been outstanding, with significant citizen donations, media coverage from The Blue Mountains Review, support from Clarksburg-Thornbury Rotary, and grants from Town of The Blue Mountains Grants and Donations Committee. The work on our very first tree was also completed free of charge by our Tree Trust Approved Aborist Arboreal Tree Care Professionals. Most recently, Garden Holistics made a generous Holiday season donation in lieu of Christmas cards and gifts. Thank you to our dedicated donors and sponsors.

Meet the Chapter coordinator