 Good afternoon, everyone. Happy May Day. Happy Belated Arbor Day. Welcome and thank you so much for joining us today as we honor Lois Wolk and her many contributions to urban forestry and urban ecosystems across California. I'm Erin Donley Marino, Executive Director of Tree Davis, and I'm so grateful that you've taken the time to zoom with us in celebration of Lois. We wish we could be together in person today at the Memorial Grove, but we're very fortunate to have many, many people in attendance virtually. Many more than could safely be accommodated at an in-person gathering at this point and with much greater participation. So thanks again for being here with us today. I'll be guiding you through a few video presentations over the next hour or so. We'll be celebrating some of Lois' career highlights that put urban forestry and urban greening on the map in California. We'll be hearing some pre-recorded testimonials from folks who have worked with Lois and have great appreciation for her contributions to the urban tree canopy, as well as some live remarks from some of our local leaders. We'll then share our Wolk Grove dedication and tree planting video where we'll get to see firsthand how Lois has given so much to our community today. We'll hear from Lois and close with ways that you can join in the great work that Lois initiated nearly 30 years ago and is still improving our community today. And before we begin, I would just like to express my own heartfelt appreciation to you, Lois. We wouldn't be here today without your dedicated leadership in establishing the public non-profit partnership that guides Tree Davis' mission. Your vision for environmental stewardship and for enhancing and expanding the urban tree canopy has benefited all Yolo County residents and made our region a beautiful, healthy and vibrant place to call home. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated leaders at the City of Davis, including our amazing Mayor Gloria Partita, Vice Mayor Lucas Frerichs and the entire City Council, as well as our champions in the parks department, the urban forestry division and the open space division, for being such valued partners in keeping Davis green, clean and cool. Together, we're very proud to be providing urban green space that keeps us all healthier and happier. So Dale, Rob, Martin and Kerry, thank you so much for joining us today. Without further ado, I would like to invite you to join me in a brief video review of Lois' career legacy and contributions to urban forestry. Let's take a look. Lois Wolk, a lifelong civic leader in our community, as well as local and state government. From soccer referee, Davis Parent Nursery School Board Member, teacher, champion of local library bonds and so many other community enhancements, Lois has been a powerhouse of community betterment for decades. In her roles as Davis City Councilperson, Mayor and County Supervisor, she continued to draw upon her deep commitments to both community and our local natural resources. She helped found Yola Basin Foundation. She built partnerships to beautify the corridor of Highway 113 between Davis and Woodland. She helped create the Lower Puttacreek Coordinating Committee and, of course, co-founded Tree Davis because she knew the value of public non-profit partnerships in stewarding our natural assets. When she joined the state assembly and eventually became a state senator, she brought her passion for stewarding and enhancing urban green spaces with her. She was a champion for urban forestry from the very beginning, making it possible for Californians to celebrate Arbor Week in early March when tree planting conditions are more favorable than National Arbor Day, which is in April. She helped create a new urban greening program and secured sustained funding for urban forestry. She was also the first female chair in the California Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. She is the author of Senate Bill 1386, the Natural and Working Lands Bill, which requires all state agencies to consider the greenhouse gas reduction value of natural and working lands, including urban forestry. She is a staunt advocate for the California Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program estimated at $7 million per year. She cast key subcommittee votes to place it back in the budget and supported multiple bills, authorizing Californians' right to volunteer to plant trees and support urban forestry and natural resources efforts. All told, 130,000 trees have been planted across the state in communities through the urban greening and EEMP grants that she championed. Those trees provide approximately $6.2 million in annual benefits and have an asset value of $136 million. Thank you so much, Lois, for your amazing professional legacy in greening our state. Excellent. So we decided to add a little interactive component to keep you all on your toes. So next we'll do a short poll about Lois. What experience does Lois say best prepared her for life as an elected official? You can choose more than one. Is it soccer referee, preschool board member, or junior high school teacher? We'll have five more seconds and then we'll close the poll. It looks like almost everyone has guessed soccer referee and how the other half guessed junior high school teacher. And so many of you are correct. The answers are combined A and C. It's something like feisty parents on the soccer field to hone skills and diplomacy, and it is truly an art form to awaken the attention of both teenagers and the electorate. So thanks to the soccer field and the junior high classroom, Lois became a champion of getting folks to work well as a team and we're all better off for it. So we'll hear a few pre-recorded testimonials from folks who've worked with Lois and have great appreciation for her many accomplishments. First up is Cindy Blaine, executive director of California Relief, followed by David Wilkinson and Ken Trot of the Woodland Tree Foundation, former city manager, John Meyer, and our very own Bob Denning, who also just celebrated 51 years as a local media leader. And I should mention that this event was originally planned for October of 2020 and some of these recordings were made just before the election. So let's hear what these folks have to say. Hi, I'm Cindy Blaine, executive director of California Relief. Relief is the umbrella organization for the nearly 100 urban forest nonprofits and community groups located throughout the state. And I'm delighted to be here with you to celebrate Senator Lois walks 30 years of amazing contributions to California's urban forests. I first heard of Lois in 2008 when I joined the Sacramento Tree Foundation. That was the same year that Lois was elected to the California Senate after having served in the assembly. And everyone in the tree world was thrilled to have an urban forest alum and aficionado thriving in the state capitol. During her two terms in the Senate, in particular, Lois supported several initiatives that supported urban forests, including an update to the Urban Forestry Act, a resolution creating California Arbor Week, a new urban greening program, and a volunteer bill multiple times protecting Californians right to volunteer, which includes volunteer to plant trees. This was critical to urban forest nonprofits because volunteers are the backbone and the heart of what we do. We wouldn't be able to plant all those trees without volunteers. So we successfully protected that with her help. However, it was her staunch support time and again to protect the California Environmental Enhancement Mitigation Program, which rises to the top of the list, especially now in my mind. The EEMP grant program provides serious funding to plant trees near recently implemented transportation projects. Urban forest nonprofits and cities can apply for these grants. It's a pretty complicated grant, but it can be done. Several urban forest nonprofits have successfully sought these grants, some of them repeatedly because the program is available every year. There were several attempts to change or end the program, however, and Senator Walk and her role on the legislative budget subcommittees repeatedly defended the program and made sure it continued, which is now an ongoing program with 7 million available every year for urban forest projects. This is especially important in 2020 now because changes in the cap and trade program recently threaten other public urban forest grants that we've been relying on for the last five years. That means that the EEMP remains the largest ongoing urban forest grant program with continual funding in California. So, Senator Walk, thank you very much for all you've done for urban forests in California and for the 37 million Californians who live in urban areas under those trees. Thank you. Hi Lois, this is Dave Wilkinson with my old friend Ken Trott here with one tree foundation. We're out at Highway 113 at Road 29. There's Ken. You may recall those brown bag bunches we had at your house in the early 2000s plotting how to beautify the highway. And thanks to your efforts, we got that grant from the Tiker Foundation and you can see the native bunch grasses here early spring, greening up throughout part of this quadrant here. Ken, I think you want to say something to Lois, huh? Yes, Lois. Thank you for the inspiration and the support over the years. You can see that the efforts are paying off the trees and the bunch grasses out here. Actually, it's several of the off-ramps and on-ramps up and down 113. I have some of our trees and we're increasingly planting the native grasses. So thank you. Yes, hi Lois. Thank you for all your work on trees and California government, all your wonderful work through the years. We really appreciate it and we enjoy coming out here and planting every winter and we'll continue to do it. So best wishes to you. Thank you, Lois. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm John Meyer. I was Davis's child city manager in the 1990s. We'll be away on the North Coast without Wi-Fi coverage on the day of this event. So I've got ahead and recorded this in advance and I should mention to you that it's before our national election. So we will be either celebrating wildly or applying for dual citizenship in Switzerland. I had the privilege of working with Lois Walk while she was on the City Council. Early in her tenure, she helped to found Tree Davis along with Park Supervisor Bob Cordray and many others. To me, establishing Tree Davis and her subsequent environmental legislative accomplishments sum up Lois' approach. First, she believes there is such a thing as good government and that government initiatives can improve communities. Second, she believes partnerships such as Tree Davis can involve government, nonprofits, volunteers, which results in more engagement and the ownership of important issues. And third, she didn't hesitate to take the long view and did not always need instant wins. Restoring and enhancing our tree canopy is certainly the long view with benefits for generations to come, like Lois and Bruce's grandchildren. Lois, you represent what's good about public service, reminding us all on these polarized times that there is such a thing as good government and more importantly, good people in it. Congratulations on today's honors. They're most deserved. Before we start, I have to admit some confusion over how to pronounce the name Lois Walk. Some people think her name has a silent L and say it that way. Others say it with an emphasis on the L. I've decided the name Lois does indeed have an L. Otherwise it would be Ois and Lois doesn't owe us anything. In fact, we owe her everything. She's one of a handful of rare people who over the years have made Davis the special town it is today. But since this is an honor being bestowed by Tree Davis, let's do some basic botany here. Lois, you see, is very much like a tree. She has deep roots in our community. Her ideas for our town are as solid as the trunk of the mighty valley oak. This is a hackberry. She's not afraid to branch out like a sycamore, covering a lot of ground and willing to tackle any issue. And she leaves no city, no civic controversy unsolved. And finally, and most importantly, just like every tree in Davis, she works diligently to remove as much carbon from the air as possible. You should know we have a city front yard hackberry tree right here, with which I have a love-hate relationship. I love its majestic beauty and the wonderful canopy it provides when it stretches across our street to touch our neighbor's hackberry tree. I also love the fact that on the first day of school for the last 16 years, this is where we take our kids' photo, standing next to our hackberry tree every year from preschool through graduation from high school. This tree is virtually a member of our family. However, when I go out barefoot in the early morning to pluck the newspaper off the driveway, those hard hackberries, they're pebble-like or awfully tough on the feet. When Lois was mayor, I complained to her directly one day about our hackberry tree, which had a large branch over the driveway where the crows would perch while munching the hackberries and then do what birds do all over our car's windshield. Lois came out herself with a chainsaw that very day, cut away the offending branch, and suddenly we had a cord of firewood sitting in our driveway. She also shared with me her secret recipe for hackberry pie. First, you gather several hands full of ripe hackberries and wash and clean them, then set them aside in their own bowl. Sprinkle your pie crust with sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt, pour the clean hackberries down the garbage disposal, and enjoy. Thank you, Lois. If I were a tree in Davis, I'd definitely want you on my side. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Cindy, David, Ken, John, and Bob. I love those stories. And as Bob said, Lois is not afraid to roll up her sleeves and solve problems. Even if it means climbing a tree and wielding a chainsaw. Absolutely. We'll let you decide about fact versus fiction on that one. But the truth is Lois has never shied away from a challenge and for that, we're all better off. Now we will switch gears and hear some live remarks from some of our community leaders. We're very lucky to have city council member Dan Carson and vice mayor Lucas Farrokhs with us today. We'll begin by hearing from Dan. Dan, thanks for joining us to say a few words. Thank you for inviting me. And I'm probably not the only one that will be checking in my hedges to see if John Meyer is out there after this event is over. But I am so happy to be here to pay tribute to Lois walk who is not just a Davis environmental leader, but really a statewide environmental leader and we really appreciate her. And that's why I'm happy to be here. One of Lois's great strengths is that she's kind of a plain speaking person. She's a very humble liner. Somebody who's not been afraid to dispense common sense advice to other public office holders. In the blunt terms, we sometimes need to understand them. But the other point, the other side of Lois is that she's really also an aspirational and an inspirational leader. And her true environmental values that really are Davis values that we have today. I think that's one of the reasons for her devotion to trees. She got both the practical benefits and in cooling our environment and other benefits. But she also got just the pure joy and the beauty that comes from having the trees that we have today. And so many of them are due to her efforts. Just one of those areas where she showed her blend of the appreciation for beauty. Was in her 1990 race for Davis city council. Some politicians in those days gave out potholders along with her campaign literature. Instead, Lois distributed these. Oh my goodness. This is a packet of California poppy seeds. Compliments of the campaign committee friends of Lois. And her campaign manager at the time, Craig Reynolds, another devotee of Davis said quote, I'm sure some folks thought it was a bad idea, but people love them. And there were a lot more poppies all over Davis in the years that follow, which is absolutely true. The poppy symbol showed up in her mail and lawn signs, much later it showed up on the logo for her state senate office on the web. And it was a daring tactic, I think at the time when the number of women in politics were not what they were now. I have to imagine there were concerns about whether it would engender some pushback from mail voters. But it really epitomized Lois's assertive approach to life and politics and her love of nature and the beauty that we can find in our community. And she could always find that beauty. And she could always find that beauty. And so when Lois's instincts were right, she won her council seat in a landslide. The biggest margin in city history at the time. That was not eclipsed. I am told until some guy named. Dan walk did better. By the way, whatever happened to that guy. I've lost track of him. But I didn't notice that, that. She, she set a political mark. On the issue of being an environmentalist in, in Davis. Off public decision making. So Lois, just to wrap it up. Thank you so much for all of the trees. Let me also thank you for all the poppies too. Thank you, Dan. Thanks so much, Dan. Next, we will hear from vice mayor. Great. Well, thanks so much for the opportunity to participate today. It's really good to see you, Lois. It's been too long, especially haven't seen each other in person, obviously due to COVID. So thank you so much tree Davis for hosting today's event for your good work in our community. I'm actually fortunate that I was out volunteering this very morning at Barabana Park. I'm doing the tree mulching and maintenance project. It was my first real in person volunteer event over the past year. And it felt really good to be out with others helping tree Davis. And so thank you so much for that opportunity. Who really knew, you know, back in 1992, when tree Davis was founded, how much it was going to be playing an essential role in Davis's fight against climate change. And adaptation strategies nearly 30 years later. You know, it's a real honor for me to participate today and be able to provide a few remarks about Lois Wolk, you know, as she's being honored, honored for her contributions to urban forestry, but also to speak to some of our interactions throughout the years. I'm soon to be commemorating the 25th anniversary of my own arrival to Davis. And as Bob Dunning likes to remind me that still makes me a newbie. But if you could actually, if you could please show the photo. Here. Back in 1997. When she was mayor of Davis and I was a senior at Davis high school. I was a participant in the youth and government program. And I participated in the role of city manager, shadowing Davis's aforementioned child city manager, John Meyer around for the day. You'll also note in the photo that my current council colleague, will Arnold is also seated in the front row next to Lois. You can stop showing the photo if you want. Our next interaction was a few, few years later, when in the year 2000, during measure O, the open space tax campaign, I have memories of sitting in campaign meetings in people's living rooms, talking strategy and process. My first real exposure to political campaigns and community engagement here in Davis. And I was inspired by her expertise and knowledge of who to call and what to do to lead that campaign to victory. And I was inspired by her expertise and knowledge of who to call and what to do to lead that campaign to victory. So I was really impressed with the 24% of approval by the voters. I also worked as a young staffer in the California legislature for a decade. Hoping with much of the time that Lois was in office in the state assembly and state Senate. That really afforded me in an upfront and personal view to see what a powerhouse she was. The pain and struggle that the legislature faced and had to deal with it. It was a real traumatic experience for everyone involved. Thankfully, things have shifted dramatically. Especially financially. But it was also where I got to see her in action with major policy issues dealing with water and flood control, healthy soils, water conservation, transportation, and so much more. She consistently took on challenging issues and also meaningful issues. And including those with a personal meeting to me. In 2015 and 2016, she worked on and got signed. The California end of life option act, otherwise known as the death of dignity legislation. And that has a personal meeting for me and my family. And that has a personal meeting for me and my family. And that has a personal meeting for me and my family. Having now served on the council for the past nine years, it's hard to believe how quickly time goes by. I have appreciated her advice and council and checking on issues of the day. I can't tell you what a relief it's been to actually be able to talk through some of these issues, both large and small, and be able to have somebody who's been in the same situation to bounce ideas off of. I'm grateful for her leadership, advice, engagement and serving as a role model of how to be a better public servant. Thank you, tree Davis and congratulations, Lois for your well-deserved recognition and honor. Thank you, Lucas. Thank you so much, Lucas. I personally relate to both what you and Dan shared. Lois inspires everyone she meets and truly brings out the best in our community by leading by example. So before we move on to our tree dedication, I would like to ask our attendees to join in our last poll for this event. This time we want to test your knowledge about the benefits of trees. So let's take a look. Tree Davis is nearly 30 years old. Today the trees planted when Lois co-founded tree Davis are conferring the greatest benefits in their life cycle. Which benefits are most important? You can choose more than one. Five seconds and we're going to close the poll. Okay, we can close it. Oh, we've got answers all across the board. And of course, this is a trick question. The answer is all of the above trees do so, so very much for us. And in our next video, we'll hear directly from Lois why she values trees so much in urban landscapes. Earlier this month, tree Davis board members and staff gathered at the tree Davis Memorial Grove with the Wolk family to plant a tree in honor of Lois. We're in the plant. A tree in honor of Lois. We're in the process of reimagining that particular landscape focusing on trees and understory plants that are drought tolerant, provide beauty and habitat value. And we've named this newly renovated space the Wolk Grove. So let's take a virtual journey to the Wolk Grove and see what it looks like. Hello, my name is Greg McPherson. I'm on the board of tree Davis and we are here at the tree Davis Memorial Tree Grove. We are just off Shasta Drive south of University Retirement Community near Colville Boulevard. And this green belt was created about 20 years ago. So we have about 50 trees. Memorial trees had been planted here. Some are very large 20 year old trees. Some are just planted last week. And for each of the tree that we planted for a person that we've loved and lost, we have plaques. The plaques contain very heartfelt inscriptions. My planted trees here for my mother, my father, and my best friend from college. And I'd love to come here. It's a very quiet, serene place. I come in with nature and I come in with their spirits. When we lose a loved one, it can be a profound sense of sadness and sorrow and loss that we feel. And that can last for a long, long time. And hopefully, the intensity of that diminishes with time. But for me, planting a tree here and watching it thrive and grow is a healing experience. I bring my kids some time. And it's a time where we have the opportunity to share our memories about our loved ones. It's not only about honoring the past and our memories of our loved ones, but really it's about passing that on to the future, to the next generation, to our children and our children's children. It's about our faith and our hope for a better future. We also have a tribute tree program in addition to our commemorative tree program. And you can purchase a tribute tree to honor any kind of event in a person's life. Maybe they got a promotion, you've had a baby. It's a birthday, whatever it may be. And those tribute trees can be planted in green belts or private property, public property. So we welcome your participation and support for our commemorative and tribute tree program. Thank you very much. This is the Woke Grove. One of the challenges that we face with climate change is the loss of biodiversity and restoring that biodiversity. California alone has lost over a million acres of natural areas in the past 20 years. We're surrounded by agricultural fields and our monocultures, all the same crop for tens of hundreds of acres. And in a sense our urban landscape replicated that concept with tens of hundreds of acres of turf requiring enormous amounts of water. We can no longer afford that luxury. So we've developed what we call a climate-ready landscape. We believe it's the next generation of landscapes that are more sustainable in the long run. That speak to the climate we have now but also the climate our children are going to be living in and adapting, getting plants that are adapted to hotter and drier conditions. So a year ago this was six to eight foot high pyrocanta. Solid mass of shrubbery festooned with this invasive vine called honeysuckle. Came in and chopped it off the ground. The city ground up the roots, provided us with mulch, which we spread to control the weeds. Turned off the irrigation. Emily Griswold, who is Director of Horticulture at UC Davis Arboretum and a board member, developed a design that incorporates over 100 plants. Most of them are native. There's low plants at the front, ground covers, smaller shrubs, taller shrubs at the back, and trees as well. They include toion and sea anithus and fuchsia and salvia, many of the plants you've heard about. And it's really designed to provide habitat for butterflies and moss, bees and birds, other pollinators. It's going to, the trees will be sequestering carbon, taking it out of the atmosphere, cleaning the air we breathe, providing cool shade in the summer and intercepting rainfall and reducing runoff in the winter. So this landscape is going to become a thing of beauty. In any season it's going to have color, it's going to be gorgeous, it's going to be soothing to the soul to walk by here and look at this climate-ready landscape. This is the Wolt Grove. We also have three other groves in this area that are as yet unnamed. And if you have an interest in naming one of them, we would love your support in doing that. Those funds would go to planting of the understory, which is so important to creating a rich, ecologically diverse habitat in our urban environment. And this climate-ready landscape program is one that we want to replicate in parks and green spaces throughout the city. If you have an interest in participating in your neighborhood or learning more about it, please let us know. Thank you very much. Hello, here we are at the Tree Davis Memorial Grove. We're very honored to be planting a tree for Lois Wolk today in honor of her amazing career in which she has overseen and supported the planting of over 130,000 trees across California. And Lois, will you please introduce your family? I will. Thank you, Erin. It's really wonderful to be here. I'm so honored, and I'm so glad that my Davis family is able to be here with me today. I'll introduce, first of all, my husband, Bruce, and my son, Dan, my daughter-in-law, Yamima, and my wonderful granddaughter, Avery, who's in the seventh grade, and Layla, who's in the fourth grade. And it's wonderful to have them here. And that's good because they'll be able to help us. This is a big tree. Well, this is wonderful. We're celebrating the legacy of Lois' career, and that legacy lives on through her family here today. And the benefits of this tree will also provide a legacy for our community. So today, we are planting a cork oak. This is a quirkus subur. Go ahead and lay it down here. This is a quintessential Mediterranean tree. It is nice and drought-hardy, able to tolerate relatively dry conditions. Here it goes. Okay, great job backfilling the hole. While we have our busy bee workers doing that, Lois, maybe you can tell us at what point in your life you realized that urban forestry was so very important. Well, that's a good question. You know, when we moved here to Davis, we moved from urban areas, Bruce and I. We moved from Washington, D.C. We grew up in urban areas. And it was always... there wasn't really a recognition of how important trees were to the environment or to the aesthetic surroundings because there were so few of them. They were really valuable, I mean, in my view. When we got here to the city, the city that had a wonderful tree canopy and I was fortunate enough to be elected to the city council, and we were growing, it was a real opportunity to extend what was a wonderful urban canopy in Davis into what became essentially suburbs. I mean, into the growth. We extended what was already an excellent city tree program, but it became even more so with the formation of tree Davis. Because it wasn't enough just to plant them, you have to really maintain them and learn about them so that you appreciate them and pass that on from generation to generation. Trees! Trees! Trees! Well, now that we've planted our wonderful tree, we would like to present to you with this plaque, Lois. It reads, in honor of Lois Wolk, co-founder of Tree Davis, with appreciation for her public service and for her work championing trees in Davis and throughout California. Thank you so much, Lois. Thank you, Erin. This is an extraordinary honor. I'm so honored by it. It means so much to me, and I want to thank you for that and thank Tree Davis. But I have to say, it wasn't just me that, in fact, there were many, many people who came together to do this wonderful organization, which has lasted since 1992-93. Bob Cordray, for one. We have some here. David Robinson, who has been clearing some of the land for this, some of the ground, some of the shrubbery. Now it's beautiful thanks to Emily Griswald and everybody else. Larry Gunther, of course. Greg McPherson. Dick Blanchard at the beginning. I just want to thank so many and the city of Davis and my colleagues on the council for having agreed to do this and then thank the community for embracing it, for embracing trees and for continuing the work. What's happening here, I think, is extremely important to the community. From the very beginning, there were families, there were individuals who wanted to acknowledge either the death of an individual or the birth of an individual or other things like graduation or just celebrate spring and they wanted to bring their grandchildren, their families and to a place in the city. And we didn't have one. So the idea was let's start one and that was suggested by Bob Cordray and the city council agreed and this beautiful grove was established. And if you, I urge you all to come and see what Tree Davis has done with this area. It's really beautiful. It's a place of repose, it's a place where you really appreciate legacy, you appreciate community and you appreciate all that this means in terms of the wonderful environment that we need to preserve and that we live in. So Erin again, thank you especially for working on this so hard and the members of the board and those who are sponsors as well. Thank you and we should have more groves like this, not just a woke grove, but there should be groves throughout the city where people can come and reflect on all those things about that trees bring to mind. Thank you Lois and Tree Davis is ready to bring that vision to fruition we're ready to plant trees and grow community. Now we have a chance to hear from our very own hometown hero our honoree Lois Wolk. Thank you Erin and welcome everyone thank you for coming I am almost speechless not quite but I'm really overwhelmed some of those pictures I'm really overwhelmed I've said most of my thanks on the tape of the recording of the tree planting but special shout outs first of all Bruce is here he's not in the picture with me but he is next door where his computer is he's here with me I think he's coming in now good here he is and also I know Dan Laura are on somewhere in the ether and I know special shout outs to the North Carolina Wolks next time you come through Davis we'll plant trees my son Adam, daughter in law Io and Audrey Isabelle, Max and Grace so welcome and all of you my friends thank you for being here you've heard a lot about Tree Davis it's been so much good and has lasted for close to 40 years we'll have to celebrate in 2023 I want to thank Davis media access of course for putting this together the energy and effort it takes is a lot and technical know-how and they're easy to work with so Jeff, Derek, Diana, thank you I loved all the presentations those serious and it was funny John Meyer coming out of a tree just that's the way it did work he used to do that in the office all the time kind of appear from under the desk it was really strange but he was a boy we understood that and Bob Dunning and his Hackberry you know that story that he tells about the Hackberry it's true it's very true and I have something for Bob which I will present to him this is the latest from the University of California Davis Plant Sciences Department this is a Hackberry that requires absolutely no seeds there will never ever be a seed ever and they made it special for Bob and you know R-U-C Davis can do just about anything in their science departments so I'm sure he'll appreciate that thank you for the kind words and of course Dan and Lucas for coming on on this beautiful Saturday and sharing some time and some very good stories and pictures thank you keep up the good work and thank you and generations of council members for supporting Tree Davis over the years thank you now my friends and others what others would be on here but I'm telling you I hope you'll consider assisting them there is a $5,000 donation that would be great to match the money will go for internships for the next generation and I really hope that some of you if you're so moved during the day of giving or spending some of President Trump's tax rebate let's do something really positive with that anyway I want to end the program with a there is a short landscape video to tell you something about the landscapes initiative of Tree Davis the understory Don Shore who's been so instrumental in this and has been generous with his knowledge and all things green so Aaron in particular thank you and Tree Davis and the Board you are just great and I'm very honored and enjoy this beautiful day Aaron the honor is all ours Lois thank you so much and as Lois mentioned we have one last video to share with you today this last piece is about Tree Davis's new initiative to enhance and protect our public green spaces with climate ready species let's take one last look how can you help Tree Davis safeguard our urban ecosystems for future generations introducing the climate ready landscape initiative and fellowship program we have incredible natural resources across Yolo County including in our urban spaces the urban tree canopy and understory environment are our primary connection to nature where we live work and play climate change projections indicate that over the next century Yolo County will become hotter changing the optimum temperature ranges for our local plant species palette and making ambient temperatures less comfortable for residents the region is also projected to become drier with longer scorching summer conditions and less water availability these climate change impacts are unsettling and threaten up to half of the current tree species in our shared urban landscape but we are not powerless in the face of these threats many researchers and universities have outlined action steps for refining our urban plant species palette to meet the climate change conditions as they emerge and Tree Davis is ready to help make these recommendations a reality working in partnership with UC Davis and local municipalities Tree Davis is actively working to help generate new plant species palates for our region we've already begun planting climate ready tree species across Davis city limits our next big step will be scaling up the planting frequency of climate ready trees and reimagining the landscapes in which urban trees are planted we aim to convert underused turf areas to understory plant communities that include native and drought tolerant plants that will confirm much greater ecological value and withstand greater heat investing in these climate ready landscapes will benefit everyone by bringing plant diversity into our public green spaces we will all enjoy more natural space in our neighborhoods by including native understory species in the plant palette pollinators will have a mosaic of habitat patches across our urban setting and by keeping green spaces green we will safeguard the evapotranspirative cooling benefits that plants provide acting as living air conditioners and shade resources across our town collectively the climate ready landscapes initiative will improve the viability and resilience of our public landscapes and safeguard their benefits for future generations we're also keeping community engagement at the heart of our initiative we're creating a fellowship program that will bring community members together in the care and stewardship of the new climate ready landscapes training the next generation of urban ecosystem stewards so please join us today in keeping yellow county a livable, vibrant and green place to call home donate today to support tree Davis and the climate ready landscapes of tomorrow thank you so much from your local leaders in planting trees and growing community and that concludes our program thanks so much again Lois for catalyzing this work and passing the baton to tree Davis to carry it forward into the future your leadership and your vision and quality of life for California's near and far with so much gratitude and respect we are proud that we can call you our neighbor and our friend and thanks to all of you our attendees for participating today we're especially grateful to Davis media access for running the event and Sacramento City College flagship design team for helping with some video production you guys are awesome keep an eye out for tree Davis and all of our new community. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon in downtown and give us a wave as you go by we will be continuing to plant trees and grow community have a wonderful afternoon everyone take care