2014 STIHL Tour des Trees is underway

The STIHL Tour des Trees is a weeklong, 500-mile cycling event held each year to benefit the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund). Since 1992 the Tour des Trees has raised more than $6.6 million for scientific research and education programs related to arboriculture (the science of caring for trees in a landscape) and urban forestry. STIHL Inc. has championed the Tour as title sponsor since 2009.

Full-Tour cyclists commit to raising at least $3500 for the TREE Fund. The money raised supports the discovery of better methods for propagation, planting and care of urban trees. The Tour also funds education programs aimed at connecting young people with the environment and with career opportunities in the green industries. The legacy of the STIHL Tour des Trees also includes an ever-expanding urban forest planted by its cyclists and a better appreciation within its destination communities for the trees which shade their lives.

Donate to the 2014 Tour to help keep the urban trees in YOUR neighborhood healthy and thriving. Or mail a check, payable to TREE Fund, to 552 S. Washington St., Ste. 109, Naperville, IL 60540. Please specify if your contribution is to be applied to a specific rider or team.

Jeff Edgar of Silver Creek Nurseries is riding in the tour this year. He's joining about 100 bike riders from around Wisconsin, the country and the world, to ride nearly 600 miles "of some of the most beautiful roads in Wisconsin."

Find out why Jeff got involved, in his own words:

"Why would I want to do that? Well, there are lots of reasons – 3,500 of them for starters.  The Stihl Tour des Trees is a fund raising bicycle tour, created to help raise money for the TREE (Tree Research and Education Endowment) Fund.  I’ve committed to raise a minimum of $3,500.00 for my portion of the Tour (tax deductable donations are appreciated). Twenty two years of Tours, hundreds of riders and their contributors, have put over $6 million into tree research and education programs.  Some of this research and education money has found its way to Wisconsin (including a generous grant to conduct research at Silver Creek Nurseries by UW Stevens Point, U of IL, U of FL, regarding wire baskets and tree root systems), both UW-Madison and UW-Stevens Point have received numerous grants supporting tree related research, and many, many students have received scholarship funds.  The programs have benefited Wisconsin and our green industry businesses."