Seeds Of Change

Becca Snowdale branches out into the community as she works alongside Friends of Trees to expand the urban greenspace.

By Mckenzie Palmer

With a cracked dash and decorations representing her organization covering its light blue exterior, a beat up old pickup served as transportation for a team of volunteers, along with our gear. As Becca Snowdale pulled out of the parking lot, she admitted that the brakes were a little finicky. She pumped them a few times for good measure, explaining that this action probably had no actual effect, it was just mental. We were eager to hit the road and plant trees in the neighborhoods of Eugene, Oregon, and we just laughed off her remark. Her confidence made it seem unimportant.

Snowdale works part-time for Friends of Trees (FOT), an organization that originated in Portland, Oregon, but has since spread to Eugene. FOT works to build community while adding native plants to the urban space it operates in.

The FOT mission has held strong since its establishment in 1989. Richard Seidman, founder of FOT, says, “right from the start, my vision was two-fold. One was for the environmental benefits of planting trees and the other part was building a sense of community with people coming together to do something positive and tangible.”

Seidman explains that with many occupations, it is difficult to know if someone made a difference, but when it comes to hands-on environmental work, the impact can be seen. After a planting, Seidman says that there is a “feeling of accomplishment, and then collective accomplishment, like ‘hey, we did this together.’”

FOT has planted trees in six counties across Oregon and Washington. In 2019 alone, they planted 51,049 trees and native shrubs. Not only does this create a more pleasant view and help to clean the air, but these additional plants help reduce the amount of energy used on a daily basis.

According to the United States Department of Energy, “carefully positioned trees can save up to 25 percent of a household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling… the proper placement of only three trees will save an average household between $100 and $250 in energy costs annually.”

The benefits for homeowners are substantial on their own, but even more important is the environmental impact of reducing the amount of energy used. The World Resources Institute states that “energy production and consumption is the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions.”

This makes efficient energy usage crucial for fighting climate change, and FOT’s work all the more important.

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Snowdale grew up in Florida, but the climate and culture were not to her liking, and it never felt quite right. She moved to Oregon in hopes of finding an environment more suitable to her personality. Luckily, Eugene was a match.

Eugene residents tend to place great value on preserving the natural world. Snowdale discovered a community with a “really strong sense of environmental stewardship” that she hasn’t found anywhere else she’s been.

Before she established roots in town, she was unemployed and lacking friends in the area. She quickly became bored. In search of something to occupy her time, she turned to Google. She asked it for outdoor volunteer opportunities in Eugene, and in its infinite wisdom, it led her to FOT. There, she began to volunteer as much as possible, becoming a crew leader and eagerly searching for more opportunities to help.

When a position as an intern popped up, Snowdale jumped on the opportunity. Getting the internship allowed her to take on more responsibilities, such as taking over FOT’s watering program. This internship led naturally to employment, as she worked hard and became part of the FOT family.

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Snowdale used to believe that she was scared of heights. Yet, she found herself in a position where she was about to scale her first tree, equipped with gear and prepared to climb high. She refused to let fear stop her. Nervous, she avoided looking at the ground and instead focused on continuing her ascent.

Approximately 230 feet up a Douglas Fir and convinced that she was terrified of heights, Snowdale finally looked down. Strangely, she felt fine, not scared at all. She had conjured up a fear where there was none.

Snowdale explains that we all do this to some extent, manufacturing obstacles that don’t exist outside of our minds. She says, “it’s easy to kind of psych yourself out and think that you’re not good enough or you’re too anxious or you’re not going to be able to do something. And if you kind of just go for it… then you find out that you’re actually way more of a badass than you thought you were.”

This mindset can be applied to environmental preservation as well. Many people find themselves afraid to make changes and others are simply afraid to begin a project with an unknown outcome.

Decreasing, or perhaps reversing, the effects of climate change is likely to require major changes from individuals, corporations, and governments. A great deal of people are afraid of this commitment. Many struggle to see the link between human actions and environmental issues if it does not directly impact their own life. It is difficult for people to make great changes for a cause they are uncertain about.

However, it is important that people do not let their fear of change become an obstacle in the way of progress. Seidman built FOT around this ideology. As a former teacher and tutor, he writes books and screenplays, saying that alongside FOT, “the common denominator is enthusiasm.” He continues, “my aspiration is… to cultivate a sense of possibility and joy. And joy not meaning happiness per say, but this great sense of vitality.”

This idea of possibility is crucial in a time of doubt. Rather than focusing on the reasons why it would make sense to not make an effort, FOT encourages a belief that positive change can occur.

With divisions over climate change remaining constant, it is especially important to connect people, which is one of FOT’s greatest objectives. Snowdale says, “we create a space for people to come and express themselves through doing something so nice as planting trees.”

Beyond connecting with other people to create a community, volunteers are encouraged to connect to the environment in which they live. Snowdale says, “it’s absolutely essential for public health and for the well-being of our community to connect people with nature, and to have a healthy urban forest.”

She goes on to explain that trees have a great positive impact on the health of the planet and the people that inhabit it, from carbon storage to air and water filtration.

Jill Suttie explores the benefits of trees in her article, “Why Trees Can Make You Happier.” She writes, “probably the most well-researched benefit of nature exposure is that it seems to help decrease our stress, rumination, and anxiety.”

But mental health is not the only aspect of people’s lives that trees improve. Suttie says, “studies have shown that spending short amounts of time in forests seems to benefit our immune systems.” She explains, “though it’s not clear exactly why this would be, a prior study suggests that trees may improve immunity thanks to certain aromatic compounds they release.”

With public health in mind, it is important to ensure a balance between green space and urban development. Snowdale says, “one of our main focuses is getting the urban canopy up to 30 percent, which is pretty baseline for a healthy urban forest.” To accomplish this goal, FOT plants trees and shrubs in parks and neighborhoods, and creates concrete cutout projects in which they remove concrete in the city and replace it with greenery.

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Determined to make a difference, Snowdale also works part-time for the city of Eugene. “I’m a seasonal tree crew worker, so I go out and I’ll actually remove a lot of the trees that are failing or are dying or succumb to disease or are tearing up the sidewalk,” says Snowdale. “It’s kind of satisfying also doing that, because then I will go back and replant at sites where I have removed the trees, so it’s like a full circle kind of thing.”

Snowdale has found her place and her passion. She loves the culture and environmental stewardship that she discovered in Eugene. She says, “I didn’t realize before I started doing this that you could do something that you love with your life.”