Because of climate change, the boreal forests in Minnesota and Canada and struggling. It is calculated that trees and plants need to move their range two miles north per year in order to keep up with global heating and changing weather patterns. This is impossible for many plants, especially for trees because they take many years to grow old enough to produce seed. There are huge companies planting trees around the world, touting their carbon offsetting marketing campaigns, but they often plant trees of the exact same type (monoculture) sometimes with only a 50% survival rate. We need to do better!

For the last five years I have donated all of my finances and time to planting trees in northern Minnesota. I am planting tree varieties from more southern growing zones, based on academic research by scientists in Minnesota who project which trees will thrive in a warming climate. I do not cut down the forest, but I hike through wind, insect, and root-rot damaged areas where trees have fallen down, planting what I call "tree islands." These tree islands are made up of many different types of trees because biodiversity is under threat, so we need a diverse forest that can adapt to the changing climate. As these tree islands mature, they will grow to spread their own seeds in a natural way. In about 20 years these trees will produce seed. In about 50 years, we should see the 2nd generation of trees spreading their own seeds, which will be a truly wonderful feat of preservation. One thing that is very, very unique that I am doing, is that I am putting the mycelium from the forest into the growing containers for the little trees. If you don't know, mycelium is a fungal (mushroom) network that trees use to communicate and share resources, such as minerals. If you stick a shovel or spade into the ground, it cuts this network. I use a spike to gently spread the myceulium, then I put into the hole my spike-shaped tree roots, which have been growing for a year with the same myceulium as the forest! This is my invented tree planting method, which is a "plug and play" method. The idea is that it will help these little trees quickly connect with the rest of the forest and the remaining "mother" trees that have not yet fallen, hopefully giving these little seedlings a better start, more support from the forest, and literally more knowledge about potential threats. I don't know of any other tree planter in the world who is doing this, so this is actually a very unique opportunity to fund my citizen-scientist research. Please help me today! I will never give up planting trees!

Trees are planted on private but federally protected lands, land trusts, and with your help, I will be able to plant on federally owned lands! I do not work with logging companies unless they are rewilding a space.

I am proud to report that I have a greater than 80-90 percent survival rate for all trees planted in the spring of 2021!

I teach high-school aged students about this project, my findings, and system dynamics.

$1.00 = 1 Tree planted, which is a great way to offset your carbon emissions.