Buddhist communities participate in interfaith tree planting

Two northern Michigan Buddhist communities joined one hundred churches and temples in planting 12,000 trees across the state’s Upper Peninsula in early May. This interfaith effort was part of the 2009 EarthKeepers’ Tree Project. EarthKeepers is a non-profit with the mission of joining together different faiths through the common goal of caring for the environment.

Volunteers planted the trees by homes, camps, parks, American Indian reservations, and many other places with help from hundreds of young people ranging in age from two to twenty-two-years-old. The tree-planting project was initiated on Earth Day 2009 with the interfaith blessing and the planting of a three-foot white spruce. The seedling planting was delayed until May due to cold weather.