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.” Continue reading about Casey Trees…
Do you feel most at home when you’re surrounded by trees? Would you rather be in the woods at risk of being eaten by a bear than walking through the city at risk of being hit by a bus. Well if you want to intern for Forest Trends because of your love for great forests, you’re going to have to risk being hit by a bus, because they’re located in Washington, DC. Still, it will be worth it. Forest Trends is all about conservation “by capturing market values for ecosystem services such as water purification, flood control, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation.” You can’t do that it in the woods, but when you’re done interning, you’ll have helped to ensure that the forest is still there for you to enjoy. Continue reading about Forest Trends…
The other kids begged their parents to take them to the zoo. Animals were exciting to them. Animals move and eat. They make weird sounds. They smell funny. Plants have none of those appeal factors. Plants don’t move, they grow. They absorb their nutrients. They’re soundless. And they smell good (most of them anyways). To most kids that spells B-O-R-I-N-G, but not to you. You realize that the zoo is an 86-minute comedy movie, while a botanical garden is 142 minutes of Academy Award winning cinematic genius. So, if you were the kid that ignored the cheap thrills of the zoo for the higher art of the botanical garden, then today’s internships will bud your interest. Continue reading about New York Botanical Garden…
