The News!
Nov 12th to 15th - Nashville, TN
SoundForest delivers 90 trees and receives order of 125 trees for Cumberland River Compact and the Nashville Earthday Project. 21 Neighborhoods in Nashville will receive 10 trees each.
Nov 8th - Nashville, TN
SoundForest plants 25 trees in Belmont-Hillsboro and 12th South Neighborhoods.
October 18th - Antioch, TN
SoundForest plants 6 trees at Thomas Edison Elementry with donations from Nashville based vynal wall art company Walls Need Love. Special thanks to Ali Abrahimia of Walls Need Love, Dwight Barnett (Tenn. Dept. of Forestry) Bethany Taylor (Hatch Show Print), Jane Baxter (Trew Audio), and Mary Solinsky (Prometheus labs). SoundForest plans to continue planting additional trees in phase two of the project. Native clump grasses are also planned for the school grounds which will decrease the need for lawn maintenance.
October 17th - Nashville, TN
SoundForest plants 15 trees as part of the New Belgium Fat Tire Tree Project. Five Trees planted at Special Olympic HQ in Tennessee.
September - Morong, Philippines
Currently deforestation in the Philippines is a major concern. Agricultural is expanding rapidly at the expense of the Filipino's forest land. Native communities suffer greatly as rapid decline in soil fertility, availability of fresh water, fuelwood, fruits, and animal forage is directly related to neglect of the forest. Unsustainable farming is putting the land at risk. The hillside forests continue to disappear as people cut trees for building material and fuelwood. The continued practice of slash and burn farming is of major concern. The massive increase in farming requires the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to multiply. In turn, these pollutants wash into rivers and eventually the ocean killing the reef systems and causing coral bleaching.
Land use systems that integrates a balance of agriculture, trees, people and animals in the same space must be made an option for Filipino farmers and put into practice. If properly implemented this can result in improved soil and water quality, higher yields, more biodiversity, and improved standards of living.
A donation to SoundForest.org can be directed to a project to help improve the forest environment in the Philippines!
Volunteers led by Scott McDonald plant trees in Morong, Philippines
September 19th - Nashville, TN
SoundForest and the Belmont Hillsboro Neighborhood have been awarded a grant to plant 55 trees along the Historic Belmont Blvd. in Nashville TN. We will be using the majestic American Elm (Dutch Elm Disease Resistant), Oak, and Tupelo to line the streets.
August 20th - Fort Collins, CO
New Belgium Brewing company awards grant money to SoundForest.org - Over 100 trees will be planted with the help of this donation from New Belgium. Once again, New Belgium proves their commitment to environmental stewardship. A big thanks for their efforts and support to our cause!
June and July - Nashville, Tennessee
Volunteers perform tree maintenance on Oak and Sycamore Trees planted last fall. Grasses and Wild Flowers can out-compete seedlings and were cut back to allow a higher survival rate.
May 30th - Nashville, Tennessee
Bike For Branches ride brings 300 riders out to help "pedal to plant trees"! The Bicycle Ride was followed by 9 bands playing at the after party music festival including The Gabe Dixon Band, The Delta Saints, The Elmwood Band, Michael Ford Jr. and the Apache Relay, Bobby Hamrick, The Draw, Denitia Odigie, The Corduroy, and Sharon Lang. View Photos!
Public Service Announcement
May 2nd - Nashville, Tennessee
Cake or Death Productions teams up with Happy Salmon to produce promo videos for the Bike For Branches ride.
April 26th - Long Hunter State Park, Tennessee
SoundForest plants a ceremonial redbud tree at Long Hunter State park in honor of Earth Day.
April 22nd - Spokane, Washington
SoundForest teams up with The Blue Spark and 360 Eco Luxury Vodka to bring you "Liquor for Limbs". Every time patrons of the Blue Spark order 360 Vodka drinks, including the featured "MarTREEni", a portion of their purchase will help plant trees in Eastern Washington.
March 29th, 22nd, and 8th - Bells Bend Park, Tennessee
SoundForest InfanTREE volunteers plant 225 trees in Bells Bend Park. Very special thanks to the Elmwood Band for their time and planting skills! Native tree species including Serviceberry, Sycamore, American Hornbeam, White Oak, Swamp White Oak, and Overcup Oak were planted to help the park's tree canopy recover. Currently the 808 acre park has only 16% covered by a tree canopy. An overwhelming majority of the land has been taken over by invasive species including Privet and Honeysuckle. SoundForest is working with the Park to help remove invasive plants and re-establish a healthy forest habitat. A riparian zone is now being established along the Cumberland River to help prevent erosion, inprove water quality, and established habitat for wildlife.
Riparian zones may are essential for soil stabilization or restoration. These zones are important natural biofilters, protecting aquatic environments from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff and erosion. They supply shelter and food for many aquatic animals and shade that is an important part of stream temperature regulation. When riparian zones are damaged by construction, agriculture or silviculture, biological restoration is needed. Usually human intervention is the best way to reverse devestation in order to restore erosion control and revegetation. Because of their prominent role in supporting a diversity of species, riparian zones are often the subject of national protection in a Biodiversity Action Plan.
Research shows riparian zones are instrumental in water quality improvement for both surface runoff and water flowing into streams through subsurface or groundwater flow. Particularly the attenuation of nitrate or denitrification of the nitrates from fertilizer in this buffer zone is important. Riparian zones can play a role in lowering nitrate contamination in surface runoff from agricultural fields, which runoff would otherwise damage ecosystems and human health. The use of wetland riparian zones shows a particularly high rate of removal of nitrate entering a stream and thus has a place in agricultural management.
March 7th - Beaman Park, Tennessee
Nancy Dorman and The Friends of Beaman Park worked closely with the Nashville Hiking Meetup organization to plant 86 trees. Friends of Beaman Park purchased hundreds of trees to be distributed in the 1200 acre park. Very special thanks to the hard work of the volunteers who helped plant White Oak and Swamp White Oak in the park. Nancy and The Friends of Beaman Park have made a remarkable difference in the park through their invasive species removal efforts. Way to go!
February 21st - Manila, Philippines
SoundForest InfanTREE volunteer Scott McDonald plants trees in Pasay, Southern Manila District, Philippines. Three species of trees were planted including Mahogany, Santol (a local Philippine fruit), and Mango. Special thanks to Scott and his crew for their effort!
February 7th - Nashville TN
Over 70 SoundForest InfanTREE volunteers planted 60 trees in Nashville's Sevier Park with the help of Blackstone Brewery and The Taproom on 12th South. Over the past two summers Sevier park has lost over 22 mature trees to stress from drought and age. SoundForest is working with Nashville's Metro Parks department to replace fallen trees. Native tree species which once adorned this property were planted including Yellow Wood, White Oak, Post Oak, Bur Oak, Northern Red Oak, Sassafras, Shagbark Hickory, American Persimmon, Tulip Poplar and American Beech. After completing the planting the InfanTREE Volunteers met up at the 12th South Taproom to enjoy food, drink, and music from Nashville guitar great Guthrie Trapp.
Recent SoundForest infanTREE planting. Music by: Left Hand Smoke
photo by Micky Dobo
View more photos from this event at the Nashville Scene
February 3rd - Nashville, Tennessee
January 24th - Portland, Oregon
SoundForest helps plant native trees in Rivervilla Park in Milwaukie, Oregon. Read the full article in the clackamas review Last Saturday, Platter joined a group of 20 volunteers and North Clackamas Parks and Recreation employees as they worked to remove invasive species from Rivervilla Park, on Courtney Road in Milwaukie.
January 17th - Portland, Oregon
SoundForest donated 25 native trees to Kronberg Park in Milwaukie Oregon. We with much enthusiasm and local pride, neighborhood citizens aided in the planting of a small native creek side forest. The effort was supervised by Clackamas county naturalists and executed by area volunteers of diverse backgrounds. The site is most certainly to be gorgeous in the coming decades! The planted species diversity is extensive and well planned allowing for future understory planting. We have planted multiple species including Grand Fir, Douglas Fir, Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine, Madrone, Oregon Oak, Oregon Ash, Incense Cedar, Western Red Cedar, and Bigleaf Maple!!!!
12/13 Nashville, Tennessee
Andrew Poston of John Trotwood Moore school lead the effort to beautify the campus. 23 trees have been planted with "Moore" on the way. Paul Beavers joined Poston and a handful of students planting native shade trees including Northern Red Oak, Pin Oak, Red Maple, Sweet Gum, and Tulip Poplar. The newly planted trees will join three giant oak trees on the campus that are over 200 years old. Poston has set a benchmark for other schools to follow. Hopefully these trees are just the beginning of a trend to plant trees on school grounds creating a relaxing atmosphere in the learning environment.
Paul Beavers and Andrew Poston with a Tulip Poplar
12/06 Nashville, Tennessee
YOU DRINK BEER, WE PLANT TREES. Giving has never tasted so good. SoundForest partners with Blackstone Brewery and The Taproom on 12th South in Nashville to help plant trees. Every time you order a Blackstone beer at the Taproom on 12th South a donation will be made to help plant trees in Nashville, TN. Also in the news, it is now possible to make a donation to SoundForest at the Taproom utilizing our in-bar living tree display (pictured below with the 12th South Taproom Crew).
The 12th South Taproom - Nashville, TN. Patrick, Chrissy, Ray, Sweeney (back), Britnay, Tristen
Patrick, Chrissy, Tom, Ray, Sweeney (back), Brittnay, Tristen
12/01 Athens, Alabama
Frank Crafts donates over 50 seedlings and multiple small caliper trees to SoundForest. Special thanks to Frank for his efforts in Alabama. Read the full article in The News Courior Athens, AL
Frank Crafts Patrick Londino
11/22 Nashville, Tennessee
Northern Red Oak Tree planted in memory of Jim Hager of Hee Haw at the Frothy Monkey Coffee Shop.
Jim Hager(August 30, 1946 - May 1, 2008)
11/17 Nashville, Tennessee
Volunteers Houston Matthews and Jared Ziemba from Oscar Anthony & The Westfolk Band
plant 8 trees at Sevier Park in Nashville TN. Yes, it was very dark when we finished! Over the past two summers Sevier park has lost over 22 mature trees to stress from drought. SoundForest is working with Nashville's Metro Parks department to replace fallen trees. Very special thanks to these volunteers for their efforts!
11/16 Portland, Oregon
The Western Region SoundForest nursey in Portland OR has begun growing native plants with a total stock of about 300 trees. Whereever possible local seed was collected from Oregon oaks, ash, douglas fir and red cedar, as well as many shrubs and small trees that are being propagated by cuttings such as pacific dogwood, California beaked Hazel nut,mock orange, spirea, snow berry,and Indian plum. Most nursery stock is at least a year old and over a foot tall from naught but an acorn!!!
11/16 Clackamas, Oregon
SoundForest is helping to eliminate English ivy, European clematis and Himalayan blackberry on two North Clackamas parks which have become derelict. On one of these parks staff member has been assigned park steward. The goal is to eventually plant forest on much of this area and the county has hired several naturalists to help direct progress.
11/15 Cookeville, TN
SoundForest works with Shepherd's Green Potbelly Pig Sanctuary and Lovie's Legacy
to plant 39 trees. Over the next 25 years these trees will produce nearly 1,000,000 lbs. of food.
11/02 Seattle, WA
Volunteers in Seattle WA plant the first SoundForest trees in Washington State.
11/01 Nashville, TN
SoundForest volunteers plant 52 Trees at Habitat For Humanity .
10/31 Frankfurt, Germany
Volunteers plant first SoundForest tree in Germany.
10/25 Phuket, Thailand
Stephen Attardi heads planting of SoundForest trees in Thailand! These are the first trees planted for SoundForest outside of the United States. A special thanks to Steve for his efforts.
10/24 Nashville, TN
Nashville Nursery donates 10 Trees for Habitat for Humanity November 1st Tree Planting.
09/25 Nashville, TN
SoundForest and The Elmwood Band plant trees for Special Olympics Tennessee HQ.
September 24th 2008 - The Elmwood Band helps plant trees!
Nash Johnson and Rusty Kelly of The Elmwood Band volunteer to help SoundForest plant trees in Nashville TN at the Special Olympic Headquarters.
09/17 Nashville, TN
SoundForest meets with Habitat for Humanity to schedule a fall planting of 50 trees.
09/07 Nashville, TN
Bate's Nursery donates 10 trees to SoundForest for planting in the Nashville area.
09/04 Nashville, TN
Success for the first ever SoundForest Benefit show!
12th South Taproom hosts event and raises funds and awareness to help plant trees.
8/24 Nashville, TN
New SoundForest logo finalized.
8/7 Nashville, TN
Plant Nashville' Campaign launches. SoundForest commits to plant 10,000 trees in Nashville TN
7/26 Meadville, PA
First SoundForest Tree planted in Pennsylvania by Bill Davis
7/15 Mattituck, NY
First SoundForest Tree Planted in NY! 00141 location 40°58'59.79"N 72°32'7.55"W
7/09 Portland, OR
First SoundForest Trees planted in Oregon by Dan Platter.