Looking for holiday gift ideas or a way to give back to the forest that gives so much to us?
Donations to the Plant-A-Tree program fund tree planting on national forests and are a positive step toward forest resilience and restoration. The Forest Service will take care of the trees as part of their normal reforestation activities.
Each $20 donation to the Plant-A-Tree Program will result in 10 seedlings being planted locally to help reforest burned areas of the national forest. In recent years, reforestation planting has been done in the 416 Fire and Missionary Ridge Fire burn areas.
The U.S. Forest Service established the Plant-A-Tree Program in 1983 to allow donors to contribute money toward reforestation on national forests to memorialize loved ones or commemorate births, weddings or special events, while helping to improve the environment.
Seedlings planted with the donations are not designated on the ground as a memorial or individually recognized, but instead become part of the forest ecosystem.
Learn more about the program at https://plantatree.fs.usda.gov/.
Donors to the program receive a certificate, which can be presented as a gift, and is suitable for framing on behalf of a person or family.
The purchase is considered a charitable donation by the IRS. Plant-A-Tree gift certificates are available to purchase online at https://plantatree.fs.usda.gov/tree-donation (be sure to specify San Juan National Forest) or in person Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Forest Headquarters, 15 Burnett Court in Durango.
There is a minimum $10 donation for five trees.
If you have questions about the program, please contact San Juan National Forest Timber Program Manager Travis Bruch at travis.bruch@usda.gov.
For information on the San Juan National Forest, call (970) 247-4874 or visit the forest website.
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