The signing ceremony between the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and the Appalachia Region Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The Appalachia Region Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) will pledge to plant 38 million trees over three years as part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Billion Tree Campaign.

The ceremony will include a symbolic tree planting of an American chestnut provided by The American Chestnut Foundation.

Participants include:  OSM Director Brent Wahlquist, OSM/ARRI (confirmed), Marshal Case American Chestnut Foundation (confirmed), Amy Fraenkel, UNEP, Director of the Regional Office for North America, and Ambassador Gioia, U.S. Public Delegates to the U.N.

Other attendees may include Secretary of the Interior Kempthorne, New York Governor Patterson, Mayor of New York City Bloomberg, and a representative from the Governor’s Island Corporation.

The event will take place On Governor’s Island, New York, Thursday, December 11, 2008

The American chestnut once reign as monarch over the Eastern forests of the United States with nearly 4 billion trees before blight nearly wiped out the species.  The blight was first see in New York City in
1904 so it would be historic and fitting to use this occasion to introduce the blight resistant strain of American chestnut to New York. 

This strain of blight resistant chestnut was developed by The American Chestnut Foundation, who will be in attendance.  This planting and signing will symbolize the UNEP’s effort regenerate the world’s forests and the efforts here in the U.S. to bring the American Chestnut back from near extinction.

For more Information contact:
Nancy Smith
Office of Surface Mining
202-208-2891

For more Information: ARRI