2013 Annual Report
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Mission Statement To maintain and improve Hoyt Arboretum and its collection for all people through advocacy, resources, awareness and education. Hoyt Arboretum relies on the support of Hoyt Arboretum Friends, a membership-based non- profit organization working in partnership with Portland Parks & Recreation. 2013 Annual Report From the Board President and Executive Director Dear Friends, 2013 has been an exciting as well as productive year for Hoyt Arboretum Friends (HAF). We installed 20 interpretive panels throughout Hoyt Arboretum thanks to the Joyce M. Furman Me- morial Trust and Portland Parks Foundation, planted 213 trees and plants, and created Forage in the Forest - a fundraising event that raised over $56,000 for our education programs and the tree maintenance fund. A very generous donation of $20,000 from the Allen Family Foundation allowed us to begin planning the new Bamboo Forest, and a 17% increase in earned and con- tributed revenue resulted in a surplus for FY 2013. We also had some fun. In July we collaborated with Treecology, Friends of Trees, and Portland Parks & Recreation to break the Guinness World Record for simultaneous tree hugging with 936 huggers, including a wedding party in full regalia! But we can’t rest on our laurels as our record is being challenged in Scotland. Join us for the second annual Hug-A-Tree event being planned for July 12, 2014. The number of programs offered by HAF continued to increase thanks to our dedicated volun- teers. HAF initiated the Trail Rovers program where volunteer hikers assist and inform visitors on the trails. Tree Encounters allows visitors to learn about a specific collection from an in- formed on-site volunteer. Themed tours led by trained volunteers have seen a 350% increase in visitor participation. These new programs are made possible by a significant increase in vol- unteerism - from 200 people in 2012 to over 400 in 2013 - with volunteer hours more than dou- bling from 3,859 to 7,865. Here at HAF, we are highly motived by our mission to maintain and improve Hoyt Arboretum and its collection for all peo- ple through advocacy, resources, awareness and education. We invite our members and volunteers to join us in cele- brating these accomplishments as we collectively work to improve Hoyt Arboretum and face the environmental and fi- nancial challenges of nurturing Portland’s collection of 6,000 trees. And we thank our HAF Board and staff who are com- mitted to continuing this progress in 2014. We also know that we can count on our members to support our continued efforts. You may not always remember who provided the interpretive panels, purchased 400 seedlings or funded the new Bam- boo Forest. But HAF knows who keeps Hoyt Arboretum moving forward. It’s our members! It’s your hours maintaining the grounds and staffing the Visitor Center, your contributions that help HAF enhance the visitor experience, and your choice to be a HAF member when there are other causes you could support. Because of you, Hoyt Arboretum Friends working in partnership with Portland Parks & Recreation can continue to pas- sionately steward Hoyt Arboretum - Portland’s museum of living trees - as a place for conservation, education, research, recreation and display. Please accept our deepest appreciation for your commitment and investment in supporting our trees. Most sincerely, Cover photo: Volunteers lend a hand to spruce up the arboretum during Keith Dubanevich Peggie Schwarz last October’s Parke Diem event. President Executive Director Photo by Heather Wilkinson. Page 1 Accomplishments Installed 20 interpretive panels in Hoyt Arboretum Funded the planting of 213 new trees and plants Acquired 400 seedlings for future plantings Broke the Guinness World Record for simultaneous tree hugging with 936 participants at the inaugural Hug-A-Tree event Created Forage in the Forest – a unique fundraising event that raised over $56,000 for Hoyt Arboretum’s educational programs and the tree fund Increased earned and contributed revenue by nearly 17% and balanced the operating budget HAF installed 20 interpretive panels in the Accepted into the Willamette Week Give!Guide for the second consecutive collections during 2013. year and increased giving by 37% Received a $20,000 donation from Janice Steward and Gordy Allen through the Allen Family Foundation to create the new Bamboo Forest Received a $2,600 grant from the J. Frank Schmidt Family Charitable Foundation to fund a summer intern in 2014 Initiated Trail Rovers - volunteer hikers inform, assist and educate visitors on the trails Created Tree Encounters - volunteers educate visitors from a specific col- lection’s site Instituted Citizen Science - volunteers research plant preservation, orchid conservation and conifer pollen counts Last July, 936 tree huggers broke a Guin- ness World Record for the most people sim- Became an approved site to accrue volunteer hours for the OSU Master ultaneously hugging trees in one location. Gardener Program Increased volunteers from 200 people to over 400 and volunteer hours from 3,859 to 7,865 Increased Saturday guided tour participation by 350% with themed tours Launched self-guided tours using the new plant inventory database Hoyt Arboretum Friends Staff Peggie Schwarz Executive Director Becky Schreiber Communications & Office Manager Heather Wilkinson Volunteer Coordinator Portland Parks & Recreation Staff Martin Nicholson Curator Mark McKinney Horticulturist Advisory Council members Joey Pope and Erin Riggs Taxonomist Lynn Loacker toast a successful event with HAF board president Keith Dubanevich during last August’s Forage in the Forest. Page 2 From the Curator In 2013 additions outweighed removals with 213 plantings and 106 removals. These removals included retroactive corrections to the plant database to ac- count for previously made physical removals. During spring planting, we were able to add six species of rhododendron be- tween SW Fairview Blvd and the Wildwood Trail near the start of the White Pine Trail. This area had been in need of maintenance and planting for some time, and it was great to finally get some additional plantings completed. The selected species will achieve heights of 15 to 30 feet, and - many years from now - the rhododendrons will create a tunnel effect when walking the trail. During Arbor Month in April, we celebrated the naming of Hoyt Arboretum’s Dawn redwood as a Heritage Tree. This liv- ing fossil was the first of its species to set cones in North America since its extinction from this part of the world six mil- lion years ago. Stop by and check out the full story the next time you are hiking in the arboretum. Due to combined rain and wind, there was damage to many mature trees around the arboretum. The most noticeable loss was two large Gymnocladus dioicus, the Kentucky Coffee tree, on the hill near the Overlook. The trees were a good size after 30 years of growth; however, their provenance was unknown due to a lack of records. Having good prove- nance is a priority for the arboretum’s collection, and we were able to get three replacement trees from Brenton Arbore- tum. The replacement trees come from wild-collected seed from three different locations, and I look forward to watching these trees grow up. In October, I attended the World Congress of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) held in Dunedin, New Zealand. The trip was made possible through funds from Hoyt Arboretum Friends. It was an honor to be able to attend and learn about the global issues threatening plants from some of the world’s leading public gardens. A constant theme of the World Congress was the concept of Kaitiakitanga, a Maori term to describe guardianship of the environment. Mao- ri is the official native language of New Zealand; in Maori culture and myth, plants were created ahead of people and should be given guardianship as respected elders. To learn more about BGCI’s role, please visit www.bgci.org/ resources/proceedings_past/. Hoyt Arboretum is a BGCI member. Last November, we launched self-guided tours using the plant inventory database. A new database feature allows us to connect the dots between trees to create a tour. Visi- tors are able to access the tours through their smart phones or print out tour descriptions from our website. The self-guided tours are available at hoytarboretum.gardenexplorer.org. Hoyt Arboretum’s Dawn redwood was named a Portland Heritage Martin Nicholson Tree during a ceremony held last April. Curator Page 3 From the Curator New plants of interest received in 2013 Currently in nursery Acer saccharum ssp. skutchii Araucaria angustifolia Cathaya argyrophylla Clemataclethra sp. Hydrangea aspera Kalopanax pictus Schefflera taiwania Planted in the field 6 Rhododendron species 7 Callicarpa species Acer cissifolium Azara dentata Pittosporum heterophyllum Photinia serratifolia Sequoia sempervirens ‘Yurok Prince’ Taiwania cryptomerioides Araucaria angustifolia Hydrangea aspera Kalopanax pictus Rhododendron falconeri Page 4 Volunteers On behalf of everyone who uses and enjoys Hoyt Arboretum, we extend a resounding THANK YOU to the 400 volunteers who donated 7,865 hours of their time and talents to the arboretum! Volunteers play a critical role in all aspects of Hoyt Arboretum’s maintenance and programming. Their leadership, labor, and love are reflected everywhere - from the labeled trees and groomed trails to the smiling faces of visitors from all over the world. Labor costs make up 80% of the maintenance budget for Portland’s parks, and volunteers provide nearly one-third of the labor that keeps our parks safe, open, clean and beautiful. The volunteer spirit that motivates so many talented and busy people is an essential part of keeping Hoyt Arboretum’s global garden growing, its trails safe and accessible, and its visi- tors informed about the arboretum. Volunteers are involved with the arboretum for opportunities to learn new things, share knowledge and experiences, and maybe even develop skills towards a new career or hobby.