Seeing the Forest for the Trees : Environmental Concern Grows With an Eager Group of Volunteers

In March, 1990, a retired Eagle Rock High School horticulture teacher led a group of eager volunteers up the mountain behind Occidental College in Eagle Rock to make an ecological statement.

On that first outing, Scott Wilson’s fledgling group, called Northeast Trees, planted several hundred saplings on the barren 40-acre hill dubbed “Mt. Fiji” by Occidental students.

Today it is safe to say that Mt. Fiji will not always be barren. Returning again and again, Wilson’s volunteers have planted and nurtured 1,700 mostly native trees, a third of their goal of a forest of 5,000 trees.

And, along the way, Northeast Trees (NET) has mushroomed, bringing in hundreds of volunteers and thousands of dollars in grants. Wilson’s group now serves as the catalyst for tree plantings, environmental education and revitalization projects throughout Northeast Los Angeles.

“I keep wondering how long it can keep getting better,” Wilson said. “It seems there is no limit.”

Wilson, 69, devotes at least eight hours a day to the group’s numerous projects, including regular trips up steep Mt. Fiji to plant more trees.

The group has affiliated with several organizations and assists communities in initiating projects of their own.

Now groups call Wilson and ask for assistance. He attributes the group’s success to the recent surge of ecology consciousness.

“Ten years ago this idea would have died,” he said. “Now people are becoming aware of our (environmental) limitations.”

NET volunteers recently completed a project at the Arroyo Seco Magnet School, where they created a shaded lunch area for students.

Since September, 1991, Wilson has worked two days a week with first-, second- and sixth-grade students at Annandale Elementary School, giving them hands-on experience with science and nature. Bertha Martinez, the school’s science coordinator, arranged for the program by applying to the Gardening Angel Program through UCLA Extension.

On a plot of land at the top of the school grounds, Wilson and the students are working to create a temperate rain forest. So far, the students have planted vegetable and flower gardens. They are in the process of building a terrace for additional planting space, and eventually they will have a solar greenhouse for propagation, a windmill, a pond and solar voltaic panels that will provide electricity.

In the past year, the scope of NET’s projects has expanded.

Future projects involve cooperative ventures with communities and businesses. In a joint venture with the Mt. Washington Access Beautification Committee, NET will assist in the planting of a “cultural corridor” from Heritage Square to the Southwest Museum, near Avenue 43 and the Pasadena Freeway (110).

And in cooperation with the Santa Monica Conservancy, the group will work in Rainbow Canyon, a 29-acre stream bed, turning it into a preserved open space with native vegetation and a nature walk. Last year, a garden was planted that will ultimately draw butterflies, birds, squirrels and foxes to the area.

Another joint venture between NET, Loretto Street School, the Department of Water and Power, Earth Action (an environmental group at Occidental College) and the California Department of Transportation will include a street tree planting, design and installation of a water-conserving garden, shade-producing campus trees and a school vegetable garden on Caltrans property that adjoins school grounds.

Funding for the projects comes mainly from private donations, which total $7,000 to date, and grants. Wilson just completed filing for a $25,000 grant from the America the Beautiful Project to expand the distribution of its newsletter and to go to youth programs. The group has applied for a $300,000 grant from the California Department of Resources’ Environment Enhancement and Mitigation program. Wilson hopes to use the money to re-landscape the Arroyo Seco/Los Angeles River greenbelt. Wilson said he also hopes to plant trees in the former Southern Pacific train yard along San Fernando Road.

So far, the group has always been able to find the resources needed for its plans. When funds are short, trees come from their nursery at Eagle Rock High School or the county.

This weekend, 200 more trees were planted on Mt. Fiji. The goal for March was 500 trees, but the rain caused cancellation of two plantings. All of the trees they plant, whether on the hill or off, are maintained for three years, after which they can survive on their own. That entails watering every two weeks. In the beginning, this was a tedious and tiring process of carrying buckets up the slopes or dragging heavy hoses. But with a grant of $18,700 from Century Cable, Wilson purchased and installed a drip irrigation system, in which a mile of underground tubing delivers water to each tree.

The trees do not have to be watered, but doing it, along with putting the roots in wire baskets to prevent rodents from chewing them, dramatically increases the trees’ chances of survival. This requires a lot of manpower, but Wilson will have it no other way.

“If we’re not going to water it, then we’re not going to plant it,” Wilson said.

Mt. Fiji has become a showcase for NET’s aspirations and dedication--”our awareness area,” Wilson calls it. He is aware that Occidental College might someday develop the land, but he plans to make it as difficult as possible. Until then he will keep planting and maintain NET’s goal of educating the community about the environment’s limitations.

“Each of our projects is just another nodule in the learning process,” Wilson said. “We are introducing the concept of environmental issues to people through tree planting.”

“If there’s an empty space, we’re going to plant a tree there,” said Lynne Dwyer-Hade, a landscape architect and NET’s vice president. “It’s good for you, it’s good for the environment. It’s something no one can find anything wrong with.”