Thank you to the Sumner Parks and Forestry Commission for coordinating Sumner’s participation in Sustainable Forestry Initiative tree planting event.  On May 20, Sumner joined approximately 27 other locations across North America to break the world record for most trees planted in one hour simultaneously in multiple locations by groups of 25-100.

People of all ages and backgrounds from across the U.S. and Canada came together Wednesday to break the Guinness World Record for the most trees planted in one hour by small teams. Organized by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI), more than 200,000 trees were planted simultaneously in 28 different communities.

The record attempt involved more than 1,100 participants, across four time zones, including industry representatives, community organizations, youth groups, conservation groups, and SFI Implementation Committees. Each team of 25 to 100 people planted trees simultaneously from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT, in locations ranging from New York City to Vancouver Island in British Columbia. One team of 100 people, led by SFI program participant J.D. Irving Limited even exceeded the existing record by planting 52,598 trees. The tree-planting initiative is but one example of SFI’s work to promote responsible forest management and sustainable communities.

Official confirmation from Guinness World Records is expected in 6-8 weeks from yesterday’s world record attempt.

Teams participating in the world record attempt included American Forests, Atco Wood Products, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks’ TreeBaltimore, City of Sumner, Washington, Coopérative Forestière des Hautes-Laurentides, Domtar, Fornebu Lumber Company, Interfor, Island Timberlands, J.D. Irving Limited, Massey-Vanier High School, Norbord Barwick (in conjunction with local schools), Norbord (Groupement forestier cooperatif Abitibi, Sylviculture La Vérendrye, Forêt d’enseignement et de recherche Harricana), New York Restoration Project, Parks & People Foundation, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania SFI Implementation Committee, ReEnergy Holdings, Resolute Forest Products (the Haveman Team – Dog River Matawin Forest, the Outland Team – Black Spruce Forest, the Brinkman Team – Crossroute Forest), Minnesota SFI Implementation Committee, St. Louis County’s Land & Minerals Department, the Sugar Pine Foundation, TD Bank, Forests Ontario (with partners Michael’s Hair Body Mind and Credit Valley Conservation), UPM Blandin, and Williams Lake Plywood – West Fraser.

Learn more about the Guinness World Record attempt and other sustainability initiatives at sfiprogram.org.