On Sept. 14, members of Brookings-area Girl Scout troops planted six honey locust trees at Dakota Nature Park.

The Girl Scouts partnered with Glacial Lakes Tree Service and Six Mile Nursery. Thirty-plus girls came together over the past year to be a part of the Girl Scout Tree Promise (more information here). The girls learned about trees, specifically trees local to Brookings and South Dakota and then decided what kinds of trees they wanted to plant.

The Girl Scouts joined forces with the Elliott Wildlife Values Project, American Forests, and SciStarter to launch a bold environmental and conservation initiative in April 2021. The organization set out to plant 5 million trees in five years and to protect and honor new and existing trees.

Not only is this great for wildlife, but it will also provide climate change mitigation and benefit our communities. Girl Scouts everywhere are being called to help by planting, protecting, and honoring trees in their backyards, camps, communities, and states — across the country and across the world.