The Coleman Company, Inc.  and sister company Marmot Mountain LLC supported the kickoff of a project launched on Jan. 10 to save and plant trees in Central Park. The project was launched next to a stately European Beech tree in the park’s Cherry Hill section.

 

Coleman provided shelter, warmth, food and drink to work crews and students for the morning’s project. Coleman supplied Weathermaster tents for shelter while processing the buds, a RoadTrip Grill LXE, ProCat heaters, Hot Water on Demand unit, Camping Coffeemaker and other outdoor and tailgating equipment used by tree crews from Bartlett Tree Experts, Stamford, Conn., media, and invited guests. Coleman’s sister company Marmot Mountain LLC provided outerwear for the students.

The 6- to 12-inch bud wood snipped from the tallest branches of the Beech tree was sent in Coleman coolers to a nursery in Oregon that will produce 10 genetically identical clones of each original tree. In this case, cloning is an age-old horticultural practice that simply means growing a genetically identical tree. It is a two-stage process in which cuttings are grafted to roots of the same species at the nursery, and the new growth is later peeled away to create a sapling with the DNA of the original tree.

Once the trees have grown two- to three-feet in height, the saplings will be replanted throughout New York City as part of Million Trees NYC, an initiative to plant one million trees throughout the five boroughs over the next 10 years (www.milliontreesnyc.org).

Participating in the effort were 11th and 12th grade agriculture students from John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens. Throughout the cloning project, the students will track the growing progress of the cloned New York City trees as part of a new curriculum on arboriculture. The Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (www.treefund.org) will fund this educational opportunity.

“This is a forward-thinking tree preservation campaign for the City of New York,” said Matthew Wells, program manager – Trees and Sidewalks for the City of New York Parks and Recreation Department. “It’s a great step towards conserving the great trees of our urban forest. Coleman’s support of this ground-breaking event allowed us to work more efficiently and comfortably on a brisk winter day.”

Representing Jarden Corporation, Coleman’s parent company, was Ian G. Ashken, vice chairman and chief financial officer, who said, “Coleman is the outdoor company. This is a perfect event for us because in this increasingly urbanized society, it’s important to bring the country and joys of outdoor living to city dwellers.”

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benape thanked Coleman for helping make New York a greener city. “Nobody loves trees like New Yorkers love trees,” he said.

It is believed that by planting one million trees, New York City can increase its urban forest – its most valuable environmental asset made up of street trees, park trees, and trees on public, private and commercial land – by 20 percent, while achieving the many quality-of-life benefits that come with planting trees.