[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 131 (Tuesday, September 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S11830]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TREEPEOPLE'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, on October 11, TreePeople will 
celebrate the 30th anniversary of its founding. Few organizations have 
had such an impact, have energized so many volunteers or have so 
transformed a community as has TreePeople. I applaud them and thank 
them for their wonderful work over the past 30 years.
  TreePeople, much like the trees it plants, started as a tiny seed 
before blossoming into the powerful organization it is today. 
TreePeople was founded by a then-15-year-old summer camper, Andy 
Lipkis. Andy, like many foresters, understood that substantial tree die 
offs in the local mountains were the consequence of Los Angeles' smog, 
and wanted to do something about it. Andy organized his fellow campers, 
and together they ripped up a parking lot and planted a meadow. But he 
was not finished. Andy next obtained 8,000 seedlings from the 
California Department of Forestry's surplus stock and started the 
California Conservation Project, later renamed ``TreePeople.''
  Since its founding, TreePeople has been committed to planting trees 
millions of trees. They began by planting 50,000 trees with 50,000 
student volunteers in environmental programs at Coldwater Canyon Park. 
Several years later, after the City of Los Angeles estimated that it 
would take 20 years to plant a million trees in order to comply with 
the Clean Air Act, TreePeople took on the project and did it in three 
years. Later, TreePeople helped launch the Los Angeles Conservation 
Corps, and Kate and Andy Lipkis were elected to the United Nations 
Environmental Programme's Global 500 Honor Roll. TreePeople's work has 
extended across international boundaries with thousands of fruit trees 
being shipped to foreign lands to avert hunger and starvation.
  TreePeople has also focused on environmental education programs and 
played an important part in getting 60,000 elementary school children 
to work toward the City's goal of mandatory recycling. In the 1990s, 
TreePeople launched the Campus Forestry Program, now boasting the 
participation of more than one million children and teenagers. 
TreePeople has also developed the Trans-Agency Resources for 
Environment and Economic Sustainability, or T.R.E.E.S., program to 
promote better watershed management practices.
  Today, TreePeople continues to work tirelessly to make Los Angeles a 
better and healthier place to live. TreePeople started modestly as one 
person with a dream. With steadfast determination and passion, his 
dream became a reality. Andy Lipkis is living proof that one person, 
with a corps of countless volunteers, can make a big difference. I 
commend his vision, and I applaud him and all those who helped make his 
vision tangible. TreePeople's greatest strength is in its ability to 
attract volunteers who are willing to work for a better community. I 
thank them for their great work.
  I extend my congratulations to everyone involved with TreePeople on 
this special anniversary and wish them all many more years of continued 
success.

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