Nature Never Stops
DRINK CIDER TO PLANT TREES!
Bottoms up for mother Earth!
Through the month of May, every purchase of 2 Towns’ cider at participating retailers goes directly to our partners, Friends of Trees!
For the past 32 years, Friends of Trees has worked tirelessly to bring together communities by planting trees and regreen-ing our region. Since its founding, FOT has planted 870,000+ trees and native plants in 120+ neighborhoods in six counties in both Oregon and Washington.
This remarkable feat of urban forestry is made possible thanks to their network of thousands of volunteers across the region. These volunteers support everything from neighborhood and yard plantings, restoration of natural areas, tree maintenance, and education.
As a company tied closely to our agricultural and natural community, we at 2 Towns deeply value FOT’s mission, and are always excited when the opportunity arises to support them! So go grab a cider, and let’s plant some trees!
Use our Cider Finder to find a cider near you!
MAKING OREGON GREEN AGAIN
A brief history of Portland’s reforestation
As members of the Alliance for Community Trees, Oregon Community Trees, The Interwine Alliance, 1% for the Planet, and EarthShare Oregon, Friends of Trees has been one of many groups working to create and maintain the green Pacific Northwest that we know and love today.
From its founding in 1851 to today, the Portland metro area, like many other urban areas in the Northwest and beyond, has had a tumultuous relationship with its natural resources. Early settlers swiftly cleared the land around them of old-growth forests to be used for timber and fuel. From there, settlers moved to clear the hills above Portland till the whole area had been stripped.
Unlike other regions at this time, early Portland residents recognized that some replanting should occur. While not at the scale that modern environmentalists would expect, in 1871, several parks were established (including the Portland Plaza Blocks and Washington Park) were established and lined with young elms and other species, many of which can still be seen today.
In 1879, neighborhoods and citizens began to plant with more earnestness in their backyards and along some streets. The result was that some Portland areas were full of lush greenery, reminiscent of how it had been previously.
The arrival of the automobile reversed this trend towards a lush, green Portland. As its’ popularity grew, streets needed to be widened to make room for these larger vehicles, meaning that the trees along the roadways were torn down. Unfortunately, Portland residents at the time were not as concerned with the loss of greenery as their predecessors, meaning that for the next 50 years, Portland was ‘deforested.’
In the 1950s and 1960s, private citizens once again began to take action, planting in their backyards and property.
The 1970s saw more direct action, as the city’s forestry division planted thousands of trees throughout the city. This program struggled through the 1980s, though, as public funding decreased dramatically. This lack of funding led directly to the founding of Friends of Trees to plant, restore, and preserve urban trees.
From the 1990s onwards, Friends of Trees has led non-profits and government agencies to help restore much of the Portland metro and interstate lines with a lush, green landscape that Oregonians have become familiar with. There is still much work to be done, and 2 Towns Ciderhouse is proud to support this mission.
SUPPORT FRIENDS OF TREES!
