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Price column: Tree champion needed to motivate Bakersfield
| Tuesday, Feb 20 2007 10:30 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Feb 20 2007 10:53 PM
Wanted: Tree hugger with people skills.
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That, in a nutshell, sums up the needs of the Tree Foundation of Kern, the Bakersfield-based nonprofit that has overseen the planting of some 11,000 shade trees on public land, including parks and rights of way, since its founding in 1993.
The Tree Foundation, which has had just two executive directors in its 13 years of existence, needs a new one -- someone with a feel for the fine art of fundraising and a willingness to digest the fine print of local tree ordinances.
"And passion," said foundation board member Ken Delfino. "That might be most important."
Dana Adams, the organization's first executive director, stepped down in 2001. She was succeeded by Dana Karcher, who resigned last December after six years in the top job.
This time the Tree Foundation board will expand its horizons and not limit itself to women named Dana.
It's a crucial time for the organization.
"We've been kind of inert for almost a year now," said Delfino, who is retired from the California Department of Forestry. "We've been going through a little transition, and we could definitely use some momentum."
From its small office on Truxtun Avenue, across the street from Mercy Hospital, the foundation has organized dozens of community tree-planting events over the years. In one year alone, 2003, it helped coordinate the planting of 1,500 trees -- and that was just in the Bakersfield area.
Every bit as important, the organization lobbied for a Bakersfield tree ordinance, helping set tree-planting standards for commercial developments, including those legendarily blistering Bakersfield parking lots.
The foundation also helped establish guidelines for tree trimmers, some of whom went about their work with reckless zeal.
"People seem to appreciate trees more than they did 10 years ago," said Pat Denney, a certified arborist who oversees tree planting and maintenance for the city of Bakersfield's Recreation and Parks Department. "Ten years ago you'd see shabby, poorly pruned trees all over the place. Now if someone trims a tree badly, people speak up."
The pace of public tree-planting has slowed somewhat, but the foundation had a couple of noteworthy projects in 2006. In June, volunteers -- many from the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club -- planted the 100-tree San Miguel Commemorative Grove on Manor Lane. In October, volunteers greened up Lake Buena Vista.
But Bakersfield still isn't as tree-friendly a city as many would like.
"We have an ordinance," Delfino said. "That's the good news. We've got good people on the city staff, even though it's kind of understaffed.
"But we still have some issues. We need to increase our green space, encourage people to plant in their own yards. It baffles me that you can still drive down a street with 25-year-old houses and see three trees on the whole street."
Though she has been away from the Tree Foundation six years, bad tree-trimming still draws out Adams' ire. "You see parking lots with the right quota of trees, one for every six cars, but they've been butchered down to just the trunk," she said. "All this time and energy getting a tree ordinance, and this is what we get. There's still so much work to be done."
It'll take a special person to change the collective mindset that permits such things to happen. It'll take someone who's passionate -- and willing to work cheap. This is, after all, a nonprofit group staffed almost exclusively by volunteers.
"But we made a commitment to change things around here," board President John Moorhouse said. "So we'll just keep plugging."
Interested in learning more? Visit the Tree Foundation's Web site, urbanforest.org, or call 325-6650.
Robert Price's column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach him at 395-7399 or rprice@bakersfield .com.