Spring 2002 -- Vol. 19, No. 1

Student Groupís Spring Break TRIP Exemplifies Service Mission

Photo: Brady Smith, Penn State

When National Forest ranger Jean Masquelier patrols the Downieville District in Tahoe National Forest in Nevada City, California, and sees a growing forest of green in an area previously ravaged by wildfires, blue-and-white thoughts come to his mind. After all, one 30-acre section of the forest thrives only because some Penn State students spent their spring break planting 7,500 trees in the fire-ravaged region.

A total of 28 Penn State students, representing the Eberly College of Science and several other colleges at the University, coordinated and completed the Tree Reforestation Initiative Project (TRIP) to combine their interest in the outdoors and their interest in service. None of the students had planted saplings before and the grass-roots group’s plans were not finalized until days before the trip as group members worked to muster the necessary financial and logistical support for the cross-country, week-long project. With assistance from the Alumni Association, the Eberly College of Science, the College of Agricultural Sciences, the College of Liberal Arts, the Schreyer Honors College, the Department of Forestry, the Department of Horticulture, the Penn State Bookstore, and numerous businesses and community groups, the self-named “Crabapple Gang” arrived in San Francisco, California, on March 3, 2001.

“When you looked at their selfless proposal, giving up their spring break and helping others, it was a worthwhile effort to support,” said Norman Freed, associate dean of the Eberly College of Science. “They were committed and serious and it made sense to help make their cause a reality.”

Organizing the trip was not an easy task. The group initially did not receive any support from the usual sources of funding for student projects. Instead, the Gang scrambled to find other funding sources in order to raise more than $13,000 for the trip during the final six weeks before spring break. Along with the support of colleges and local businesses, the group received assistance from the State College Kiwanis Club. American Forests, in partnership with Eddie Bauer through its Wildfire ReLeaf Project, donated the seedlings and tools to make the project possible.

On their first day in San Francisco, the students met with Penn State alumni in the San Francisco area and worked at Muir Woods National Monument planting native grasses while working with children from the Hunters Point Youth Park Foundation. Those children from the San Francisco area had never visited the nearby national monument, home of towering redwood trees, ocean views, and winding trails.

“We helped out with logistical planning in regard to transportation and supplies,” said Tom Paradiso (‘80 B.S. Math). “The local alumni chapter also donated some Penn State shirts and souvenirs for the day. The students worked hard to make the event a success and we were happy to help out in any way we could.”

The next three days, the Penn State students worked in Tahoe National Forest planting Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine saplings in part of an 11,000-acre area that had been ravaged by forest fires in recent years. The Penn State students were the first group to volunteer their services to help replant the area. The National Forest Service usually pays contractors to complete the work—when its budget allows. The students worked amid charred, dead trees that could not be removed because the area had been classified as a habitat for bald eagles. When group members saw two eagles, they became the first to confirm a sighting of the birds in the area since the wildfires in 1999. At the end of each day the students could either spend the night in barracks owned by the forest service or camp outside. Many who camped outside wrote thank-you letters to sponsors and supporters while sitting beside the campfire.

“The students worked really hard, especially since none of them had ever done anything like that before,” Masquelier said. “We are very appreciative and would welcome them back on similar projects.”

Months later, the trip remains much more than a fond memory for the Penn State students. Its impact is growing. The trees continue to flourish, officials at Tahoe National Forest are appreciative, and officials at Penn State are using the success of the project as an example of what they hope to accomplish with a plan that encourages students who return home or travel during spring break to meet with alumni in those areas and conduct service projects.

“It was just an amazing experience,” said Elene Heiblim, an ecology major from Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania. “We aided the environment in a way that will be noticed for years, and we learned a lot about ourselves—all in just a week.”

In addition, the Crabapple Gang has implemented a pen-pal program with the children it worked with in San Francisco and the group has established plans for service projects on and near campus as well as another TRIP, perhaps in Central America or South America, for group work during spring break 2002.

“We think we can build on the first trip and make a similar impact somewhere else,” said Brady Smith, the horticulture major from Ligonier, Pennsylvania, who coordinated many of the Gang’s efforts. “It’s just so rewarding because you think that planting the trees will mean so much, and it does, but making the trip a reality and working with those children was just as meaningful—maybe more meaningful—because you know you’ve accomplished something that was not easy and you’ve had a personal impact.”

~~ Steve Sampsell

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