Although it may seem bad that millions of trees are cut down every year for Christmas, the truth is that most of the trees are farmed and are a completely renewable resource. Most. It was not the case with the tree that some frat boys that I went to school picked out. Their foyer had extremely high ceilings, so they picked out a very tall tree from the front of someone’s yard. They cut it down, loaded it up in their truck, and sped off. Unfortunately for them, someone spotted their plates and called the police. The cops saw the tree through the fraternity house’s windows, and they nailed the culprits. Whoops. What’s the point of this story? Trees are important, and they face lots of risks. In forests trees are often left to do their own thing, but in urban environments they need a little help. That’s what Casey Trees does. They are “a Washington, DC based not-for-profit dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the Nation’s Capital.” Whether they’re planting trees, protecting against development, or fixing damage done by idiot frat boys, they’re doing their best to reverse the “trend of tree cover loss in the District of Columbia.”

Oh, Christmas Tree… Oh, Casey Trees

It’s amazing how complex Casey Trees’ work gets. It’s not just about planting seeds and pruning branches. It’s about a broader movement to ensure that trees continue to be an integral part of the DC landscape. As they put it:

Casey Trees plants trees, trains people to become Citizen Foresters, engages thousands of volunteers in tree planting and care, teaches students in District schools about trees, monitors the city’s tree canopy and provides guidelines for better planting space design so trees will thrive in the city.

It’s a perfect organization for the forestry types who aren’t quite ready to give up urban pleasures. If that’s you, then you need to check out the Casey Trees Jobs page. They’re typically looking for people who have strong skills in Urban Forestry, Arboriculture, Ecology, Landscape, Architecture, Public Policy, Communications, Community Outreach, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Mentoring. Specific opportunities include Tree Planting Laborer and Urban Forestry Crew Chief. The application instructions vary, so check out the specific postings for the right instructions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• CaseyTrees.org
• Jobs at Casey Trees
• About Casey Trees
• Staff at Casey Trees
• Casey Trees’ History
• Casey Trees’ Board of Directors

Where’d you get your Christmas tree?

We've identified Casey Trees as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• all employers
• communications
• community development
• forestry
• holiday
• navigation systems
• non-profit
• Washington DC

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