vets help plant trees

Veteran Green Jobs (VGJ), in partnership with Denver Parks and Rec through The Mile High Tree Initiative, is training 35 formerly homeless veterans in tree planting and basic landscaping skills.  The vets will plant 4600 trees my August 2012 in residential neighborhoods across Denver.  The non-profit VGJ has consulted with ALCC about its training on landscape equipment and practices and is hoping to place its trainees in landscape industry internships.  For more info, call John Arigoni, 720 236-1309. 

National legislation would give $50 million to plant trees

The Small Business Environmental Stewardship Assistance Act (SBESA), H.R. 4509 and S. 3279, reauthorizes the SBA National Tree Planting Program at $50 million annually between 2011 and 2015 to plant trees around retail storefronts, rental housing units and other public areas.  The act will create and sustain private sector jobs, help cut energy costs and revitalize retail/commercial areas. 

An environmental impact study by researchers at the University of Florida and Texas A&M showed that the program will have the following impacts:

• Provide a total output of $741 million over the life of the program;
• Create 6,418 jobs, an average of 1,284 jobs annually;
• Contribute $407 million to the national Gross Domestic Product over the life of the program;
• Produce more than $87 million in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments. 

To learn more about the study and SBESA, visit www.treesmeanjobs.