Letter from Director Gord
Some good news to report on our Tree Canopy project. We put a postcard in people’s doors before Christmas encouraging tax-deductible charitable donations to the Calgary Foundation for our Tree Canopy Replacement Project.
We did not expect the response from the community that we received. Before December 31, we received nearly $11,000 in donations from residents to the Parks Foundation, and we have received several more generous donations already in the new year, bringing our total funds raised to nearly $14,000.
We were amazed and continue to be gratified. My fellow directors Gordon Palmer and Don Boykiw are already hard at work applying for matching-fund grants for the money we have raised. Those grants will multiply the money we can spend on new trees this year. One of the keys to our success at the Willow Ridge Community Association has been a well-oiled machine for finding the right set of grants for the right project.
We hope to plant as many as 20 trees this year at community direction. Each of those trees will come from the City of Calgary tree nurseries, will be planted professionally by City crews and then will be watered for five years. In fact, half of the money that goes towards planting a tree is actually dedicated to watering.
So where to plant the trees? We are still working that out with the City, but we want to make sure that our great boulevards have some new trees planted – in particular, Willingdon Drive, Fairmount Drive, Willow Park Drive, and Acadia Drive – in preparation for that day in the next few years where some of our large poplars on those drives will have to be removed. Should we put in elms that will eventually tower over our roads? How about maydays, cherries, or crabapple trees that give us a nice show of flowers in the springtime?
We heard from our neighbours at our Willow Ridge Open House on March 29. Thank you for your feedback on our project and what kinds of trees you want to see planted in our neighbourhood over time. Our kids will get the benefit of our decisions today.
And once again, if you have already donated to our project, thank you. And if not yet – the 2026 tax year has already begun, so keep this project in mind for donations for the trees we will plant in 2027! We have opportunities for people to get involved in tree health mapping and planting at our community centre, so let us know.
Gord Paynter
WRCA Director of Urban Forestry
WRCA Director Gord Palmer, personally delivered over 1,500 postcards to WPMR residents!
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