Legislation would boost tree sales nationwide

Yesterday Congressman Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced the Small Business Environmental Stewardship Assistance Act of 2010 (H.R. 4509) to promote tree planting in communities throughout the nation, as well as creating jobs and economic development opportunities for Oregon’s nursery industry.
“Right now we need to do everything we can to promote job creation here in Oregon,” Schrader said. “This bill will provide a critical shot in the arm for Oregon’s nursery industry, an important part of our local rural economy.”
Schrader’s bill creates a five-year program, administered through the Small Business Administration, authorizing $50 million annually for each of fiscal years 2011-2015. Communities will receive funds (through state forestry agencies) to hire private nurseries and arborists for tree-planting projects.
Oregon Association of Nurseries and ANLA threw its support behind the bill.
“The U.S. nursery and landscape industry stands ready to work alongside public and private sector partners to leverage resources so that local small businesses can work together to achieve very real returns on investments in green infrastructure,” said Bob Lyons, owner of Sunleaf Nursery in Madison, Ohio. “By partnering with local nurseries and landscape professionals, this investment will allow America’s small businesses to become more energy efficient, combat global climate change and develop greener retail and commercial areas while creating jobs at a time when new jobs are scarce.”

The bill would reauthorize the SBA National Tree Planting Program, which requires a 25 percent match for any grant under the program, including in-kind contributions such as the cost or value of providing care and maintenance for a period of three years after planting. This match ensures that both private and community investments are made for the installation and care of trees funded by this program, said Corey Connors, ANLA’s Director of Legislative Relations. According to the National Association of State Foresters, more than 18,000 landscape firms were employed to plant more than 23 million trees across the country through the SBA program in the 1990s.