JP Trees/Earthworks “Setback Trees Project” meeting, January 22, pared down minutes:

Updates
The New England Grassroots Environmental Fund (NEGEF) grant was sent out for JP Trees. If accepted it will provide money for the trees, printing, outreach material and translation costs for the JP Setback Trees program.

Check out the Setback Trees project description, plus get a tree application, on Earthworks' website.

December's meetings outreach suggestions, realtors, JPNDC, and Urban Edge all have been contacted, and we are slowly hearing back. JPNDC is the most promising thus far.

The press release was not printed by the Gazette this past week, but one of their reporters, Lou Mancinelli, called Gretchen about the project, so we are still hoping for coverage soon. Joe, thank you for the guidance too, Gretchen will resubmit the article with those contacts.

We did decide that we are now going to be doing things and getting the work done on this project--no further meetings scheduled for now.

Outreach Work to Move Along With
1. Churchyards and church communities will be an important focus for us (see prior posting). We are looking for contacts within different JP churches so we can direct intro letters to the right person who makes decisions about trees and the land the church is on. Also, church groups can be a good outlet for setback tree talks/finding homes for trees. Anyone with other ideas or contacts, please send them along to Gretchen (Gretchen@earthworksboston.org). We can still use more crime watch contacts as well.

2. We flyered on the afternoon of February 3 and covered much of Jamaica Plain, including Hyde Square, Centre Street, South Street, Egleston Square, Washington Street, and Forest Hills businesses. Some could not make it, but we can get them a few flyers and indicate where we have missed so they can cover those areas. If you can do some flyering, please contact Gretchen (Gretchen@earthworksboston.org).

3. Site evaluation is tentatively planned for Saturday, February 24, to allow us at least a month to develop a critical mass of potential sites. Ben Crouch from Earthworks will meet with all of us on one site, provide instruction on site evaluations and then we will break into teams. (Perhaps this is a good time to have in-hand flyers so that we can leave some information for any yards with big potential.)
Help us evaluate sites for this spring so we can get to 250 trees!!!


Tree planting is a fun way to combat global warming while building a sense community. Let us know how you can contribute!