Looking Back and Into the Future

This past September TreeLink marked 10 years of service. We started in 1996 with a matching grant from the Forest Service at the recommendation of NUCFAC, and a grant from the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation. Hoever, TreeLink is only three years old as an autonomous organization.

We hit the ground running. In those first three years TreeLink sweeped three national awards in urban and community forestry and gained recognition as the most comprehensive website in the field. We currently reach 70 plus countries.

Today TreeLink is a national initiative providing nearly a half-million dollars in services annually to connect people with trees. We have a fully invested Board of Trustees, a 3-Year Strategic Plan, a Communications Strategy and a Fundraising Plan to build capacity.

What's New
TreeLink's spring Board meeting set new core values and goals, along with plans for our board strategic planning. Our new mission is to raise awareness and raise support for urban forests. Our new vision is to provide information and communication that inspires people to cultivate sustainable urban forests worldwide.

We have updated our core values, quite simply: Honesty, credibility and dependability.

We underwent a 10-day, two-part leadership training. We are strategically building our board while developing a business model for a diverse funding plan. We are stabilizing our base staff and strategically planning our management. Since 1996, we've upgraded TreeLink three times. Now we're planning the next upgrade - an experience like no other - and won't you be surprised! TreeLink is constantly inundated with requests from government agencies at all levels (local, state and federal) for assistance. Besides problem solving and information sharing on our national communications tools, TreeLink is often used to recruit, develop, market, promote and otherwise support outreach for worthy causes related to community forestry programs.

Lean Years
It hasn't always been easy. There were lean years when the dotcoms were crashing and TreeLink survived on a wing and a prayer, a surplus of humor and the encouragement of friends and partners around the country. But TreeLink isn't just a website. It's a neutral portal with more than 2,000 urban forestry resources in 12 languages. It's a technology organization providing cash-saving communications tools.

We spent 10 years developing target audiences with more than 500 local, state and Federal land agencies, trade groups, academics and researchers, green industry, and local nonprofit organizations in cities and towns from Los Angeles to New York and from Chicago to New Orleans. We provide inreach for these constituents and, most important, we provide outreach to the general public - all with cost-efficient technology.

The TreeLink staff promises to redefine what a dot.org should be. Beyond 2005, we vow to expand participation and support for urban forests and our partners by reaching out to the public from a stronger organization with a savvy staff and a Web experience like no other.

Best regards,
Team TreeLink