Friends of Grand Rapids Parks

Becky Pobst, our Director of Forestry, and Lauren Howard Davis, our Director of Programs, are excited to speak at the Partners in Community Forestry Conference in Chicago this Thursday! Their presentation will focus on: ?? How to effectively prioritize, fund, and carry out community tree-planting events in areas that need trees the most. ?? The tools and resources Friends uses to make these events happen and the best practices we've learned from our years of experience. Arbor Day Foundation | #PCF2024

Over the summer, we partnered with our friends from the Emma Cole Project at Calvin University, who conducted botanical inventories at twelve local parks and documented the rich diversity of our city’s plant life. In our latest blog post, Grace Langeland (the Emma Cole Project) writes about: ?? Emma Cole's research and publication from the early 1900's. ?? How the Emma Cole Project created botanical inventories over the summer, conducting Floristic Quality Assessments (FQA) in twelve local parks. ?? What's next? How Friends will utilize these assessments to plan for natural resource management moving forward. Read more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/e9QH8tM3

We have exciting news!! ???? Since 2017, Friends has partnered with Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and the City of Grand Rapids to raise our downtown tree canopy coverage from 5% to 10%. Not only have we collectively planted enough trees to meet this goal, we finished a year ahead of schedule! Friends planted over 1,000 trees downtown to help reach this goal, and yesterday, our team celebrated together while planting 13 trees along Front Ave. As these trees grow, they will help create a cooler future for our beautiful city.

November is here, and we need your help wrapping up our fall planting season! ?? Here are some ways you can get involved this month: ?? Plant trees with us on 11/2, 11/9, 11/14, and 11/16 ?? Help us remove invasive species at Provin Trails on 11/2 ?? Join us for our Environmental Justice Class on 11/13 Learn more & register for these events: https://lnkd.in/ebbxcGqv

Our team is GROWING! ?? We’re excited to introduce you to Liam McCarthy, Community Forester, and reintroduce Kal McLane, Conservation Coordinator! Do these faces look familiar to you? ?? That’s because Kal began working at Friends in April as our community forester, and Liam joined us over the summer as our seasonal watering technician. As they transition into their new roles, we can’t wait to see all the work they’ll do for parks, trees, and trails in #GrandRapids! Learn more about Liam and Kal on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eVXxw6Cn

Alright, friends! We need YOUR input on future improvements to bike trails in Grand Rapids! ?? We’re partnering with the International Mountain Bicycling Association and the City of Grand Rapids to learn more about what you want from existing and future trails. ?? Take the survey now! https://lnkd.in/er5pXjHS Your input helps: ?? Ensure that 90% of the community is no more than ten blocks from a natural surface trail. ?? Make the 'Grand Loop' a reality for ALL users: hikers, bikers, trail runners, birders, adaptive users, and more. ?? Grow economic and health benefits of trails, creating opportunities to travel outdoors throughout Grand Rapids. Thank you for taking the survey & please share it with your network, if possible!

Congratulations to?Stacy Bare?and all the winners and finalists of the 2024?Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Grand Rapids (ynpn.gr)?Leadership and Recognition Awards! ????

October is PACKED with opportunities to get outside in #GrandRapids. This month, join us to learn new skills, plant more trees, care for our parks, and have fun! ?? To register and learn more about these events, visit our website: https://lnkd.in/ebbxcGqv 10/10: ?? Mountain biking workshop with Team Switchback (Pre-registration is requested, but not required!) 10/12: ?? Fall tree planting (1 shift, location announced soon via email) 10/19: ?? Pumpkin Party at the Friends office (No registration, free pumpkins while supplies last!) 10/26: ?? Fall tree planting (2 shifts, location announced soon via email) ?? Invasive Control Work Day at Ball Perkins 10/30: ?? Halloween Tree ID Walk at Oakhill Cemetery

THANK YOU! ?? ?? Over the weekend, 250+ volunteers joined us at #Neighborwoods to plant 200 more trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. At the beginning of the year, there were over 700 empty spaces for trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. With your help, 450+ trees have been planted in these spaces during ArborFest in the spring and Neighborwoods in the fall. We are SO grateful for the support from our volunteers, partners, sponsors, and especially from neighbors in the MLK Park Neighborhood. Not only were there fewer tree denials this year (10% rather than our average of 20%), but we also had the privilege of planting alongside many neighbors and are working to fulfill requests for more trees. Neighborwoods is in partnership with the Mayor's Greening Initiative, and these community tree-planting events wouldn't be possible without Mayor Bliss' ongoing support. Over 13,000 trees have been planted in Grand Rapids during her time in office, and we are so happy we could celebrate her hard work and advocacy at Neighborwoods! ?? Ready to plant more trees? With our fall planting season in full swing, we have three upcoming tree-plantings, and we could use your help. Visit our website to sign up! ??: Tiffany Fant (Mo'Photography, LLC)

Tomorrow, we're kicking off our 2024 fall tree planting season with Neighborwoods in partnership with the Mayor's Greening Initiative - and we couldn't do it without our amazing partners and sponsors! ???? Thank you to: King Park Neighbors, City of Grand Rapids, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, USDA Forest Service, FedEx, Arbor Day Foundation, ITC Holdings Corp., ASM Global, John Ball Zoo, Farmers Insurance, Verizon, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, MSU Federal Credit Union, Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Bartlett Tree Experts, Adventure Credit Union, AHC, Meijer, Orion Construction, Pioneer Construction, Rehmann, TowerPinkster, and more! ??