It was all part of a special lesson in urban forestry from Michael Rosen, president of Tree Canada. Rosen was in town for the CN EcoConnexions tree planting ceremony on Connaught Drive. While all the fanfare may have been reserved for the public ceremony, the students enjoyed a smaller, private audience with Rosen as he extolled the virtues of urban forestry.
Rosen, who spent several years in Jasper, learned about the club from old high school friend and Jasperite, Warren Waxer. Between Rosen, the municipality and the club, it took less than a day to coordinate the tree planting.
“It was really fun,” said Anagha Devkota, who had never planted a tree before, nor considered forestry as a career. “I am going into sciences and probably sustainability, so this will definitely come up.
“Especially because of being in sustainability, with climate change and everything, it makes you think about how important [trees] are.”
Every bit as important, however, is sowing the seeds.
