U.P. EarthKeepers to plant 12,000 trees for Earth Day 2009: Marquette Mining Journal news story

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(Marquette, Michigan) - The Upper Peninsula interfaith EarthKeepers will create the equivalent of a forest across the Lake Superior basin for Earth Day 2009 as 12,000 trees are planted by about 100 churches and temples in northern Michigan.
"The EarthKeeper project this year is one where people from across the Upper Peninsula will see tangible results of their earth stewardship," said Gail Griffith, EarthKeeper Implementation Team co-chair. "I hope that congregations involve their young people in their planning and planting."
"Each year the staff at the Superior Watershed Partnership looks forward to helping the EarthKeepers coordinate an event," said Carl Lindquist, SWP executive director. "It's fun and it helps further our long term protection and restoration goals for local watersheds and the Great Lakes."
The EarthKeeper team includes ten faith traditions with over 150 participating churches/temples, the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP), the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI), and the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper Student Team.
Founded in 2004, the Earth Keeper Covenant has been signed by the bishops/leaders of ten faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, Zen Buddist and the Lake Superior Friends (Quakers).
United Methodist Church (UMC) Marquette District Superintendent Grant R. Lobb said one tree provides many positive benefits like "improving air quality, stabilizing the soil, providing shade, and giving beauty to our sight."
An annual Jewish holiday celebrates the blossoming of the almond trees in Israel at the start of spring, said Dr. Constance Arnold, president of the board for Temple Beth Sholom.
"Tu B'Shvat is a very ancient holiday we observe yearly," said Arnold. "This is a reminder of the importance of trees."
Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette Bishop Alexander K. Sample said he encourages parishes "to participate fully in this EarthKeeper project."
Northern Great Lakes Synod Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes said "trees matter" and encouraged Sunday school classes, confirmation classes, men and women groups and others to plant as many trees as possible.
The connection between trees and a healthy world has long been taught in the Bahá'í Faith, said Dr. Rodney H. Clarken, chair of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Marquette.
Clarken cited the works of well-known Bahá`í conservationist Richard St. Barbe Baker of England who is nicknamed the "Man of the Trees."
The head priest for Lake Superior Zendo, a Marquette Zen Buddhist Temple, said "we absolutely must care for mother earth."
"Human life, literally and figuratively, is inseparable from mother earth," said Reverend Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, EarthKeeper Implementation Team co-chair. "We are inextricably threaded to her. In caring for her, we care for ourselves."
David McCowen, a member of Lake Superior Friends one of two Quaker groups in the U.P., said trees provide "wind breaks, wildlife habitat, fuel source, and a cellulose fiber source."
The EarthKeeper Tree Planting Project is "another opportunity to work cooperatively with God and nature to replenish the earth," said Pastor Dave Anderson of Grace Presbyterian Church in Sagola and chaplain for the Dickinson County Healthcare System.
Marquette Unitarian Universalist Congregation (MUUC) celebrant coordinator Nancy Irish said planting trees is a "simple and meaningful way to put our environmental concern into action" because they "serve as lungs, shelter, inspiration, comfort, and sustenance for other living creatures."
Episcopal EarthKeeper team member Nancy Auer of Houghton, MI said there are good reasons to plant trees "in a region of the country known for trees" including minimizing the effects of logging.
"Our interfaith tree planting effort is more than another conservation project," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, CTI executive director and EarthKeeper Initiative co-founder.