Twenty Years of Cycling for Tree Research Kicks Off This Week

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The STIHL Tour des Trees, America's largest fundraiser for tree research, kicks off its 20^th Anniversary Tour this week in Portland, Ore., with more than 100 cyclists from across the U.S. and Canada.

In 1992 a group of tree care professionals began the very first Tour, cycling from Seattle, Wash., to Oakland, Calif., and raising more than $89,000 for tree research. Since then, what has now become the STIHL Tour des Trees has cycled more than 10,000 miles and raised nearly $5.5 million dollars for the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund).

This year, cyclists tackle a 585-mile loop from Aug. 5-11 through Oregon, including the Pacific coast, the Columbia River Gorge, vineyards, high desert and Mt. Hood for a week of tree plantings, educational programs, community engagement and fun.

"The STIHL Tour des Trees is an engine for innovation in the arboriculture industry," said TREE Fund president and CEO Janet Bornancin. "As the challenges faced by the trees in our communities evolve, the knowledge arborists use to care for these trees must keep pace. Tree care professionals count on research to help them work smarter, safer and more efficiently in the urban forest." Recent research projects supported by funding from the TREE Fund have yielded better methods for:

• Quantifying the benefits of trees to the economy and environment to make it easier for governments and businesses to determine the return they'll get on their tree care investment. Studies have focused on real estate values, air pollution reduction and the urban heat island effect, to name a few.
• Studying ways to control diseases and pests which has made it possible to minimize the damage caused by bark beetles and invasive 'exotic' pests, such as the emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle.
• Improving the survivability of new tree selections for urban sites through the development of hardier, drought and disease-resistant species.
• Reducing pesticide and mechanical interventions by proving the value of integrated pest management, which takes advantage of the tree's natural characteristics and surroundings to fight pests and diseases.

B-Roll and photos of cyclists are available now at http://www.bluecouchmedia.com/stihl_tour_media_broll1_720p60.mp4. Please contact Kate Lewis at 407.791.3883 or [email protected] or visit www.stihltourdestrees.org to learn more.

Sponsors of the 2012 STIHL Tour des Trees include STIHL Inc.; Bartlett Tree Experts; reTREEt America; Asplundh Tree Experts; International Society of Arboriculture; KASK Helmets; Tree Care Industry Association; The Davey Tree Expert Company; Arizona Public Service; National Grid; Pacific Gas & Electric; PacifiCorp; Arborwell; Forestry Equipment of Virginia; Lewis Tree Service; NGK Spark Plugs; Trees, Inc.; Unitil; Utility Arborist Association; West Coast Arborists Inc.; Eco-Bond; Ford Motor Company; Pogo Organics; Tech Tree Experts Inc.; TREE Fund Board of Trustees; Vermeer; Washington Forestry Consultants, Inc. and Wright Tree Service, Inc.

About the TREE Fund:

The TREE Fund's mission is to support sustainable communities and environmental stewardship by funding research, scholarships and education programs essential to the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in the fields of arboriculture and urban forestry. 

The TREE Fund has supported research that has led to important developments in:

• Understanding air pollution reduction and carbon sequestration by trees
• Determining the costs and benefits of urban trees
• Improving conditions for tree growth in difficult sites
• Strategies to manage diseases and pests that affect urban trees

For more information, visit www.treefund.org.

SOURCE STIHL Tour des Trees