Each year, we honor those who work to restore, enhance, and protect our tree canopy.

Garfield Elementary School | Award for Education

Garfield Elementary School in DC’s Ward 8 is at the heart of a vibrant effort to connect students with food, learning, and the natural world. Serving a diverse community of young learners, the school has become a model for how hands-on, experiential education can deepen student engagement and support whole-child development. Under the leadership of Principal Rolle, Garfield has embraced outdoor and garden-based education to enrich classroom learning and bring lessons to life.

Through a strong partnership with FoodPrints—a DC-based program that integrates food education, cooking, and gardening into the curriculum—and Casey Trees, students have planted several trees around their schoolyard, creating a growing orchard that serves as both an outdoor classroom and a living learning lab. FoodPrints’ mission to teach students about healthy eating, environmental stewardship, and food systems aligns seamlessly with Garfield’s commitment to experiential learning.

These hands-on experiences empower students to see themselves as caretakers of their schoolyard, neighborhood, and environment, while building confidence, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of healthy communities. Garfield Elementary’s commitment to this work demonstrates how a school can cultivate stewardship, responsibility, and joy in learning, while investing in the next generation of environmental leaders. Principal Rolle is accepting this award on behalf of the Garfield Elementary School community.

Rebecca Renard-Wilson | Award for Sustainability

Rebecca Renard-Wilson has shown a deep and lasting commitment to conserving land and protecting natural spaces within her community. In Anacostia, she worked to preserve her family’s wooded property through a conservation easement, helping ensure that the land and the trees growing there will be protected for generations to come. Her efforts reflect a strong belief in stewardship, legacy, and the importance of natural spaces as healing spaces. Professionally, Rebecca is known for her care-centered, values-driven work as an educator, memory worker, and facilitator of community-engaged practice, supporting individuals, organizations, and local governments in building systems and structures that promote holistic well-being. We are honored to recognize her dedication to land conservation and the care she has shown for her community.

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that limits how land can be used or developed to protect it in perpetuity, even if ownership changes. In a city like DC, where development continues to reduce tree canopy and green space, Rebecca’s decision to preserve her family’s wooded property in Anacostia helps safeguard a vital piece of the urban landscape for future generations. Her action stands as a powerful example of community-led conservation in the face of rapid change.

M-NCPPC Department of Parks & Recreation, Prince George’s County, MD | Award for Partnership

Formed in 1927, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is a federally conceived, state-chartered agency that has jurisdiction over parks and planning in Montgomery and Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Commission is empowered to acquire, develop, maintain, and administer a regional system of parks in the two counties, serving 2 million residents and maintaining nearly 70,000 acres of parkland.

The Department of Parks and Recreation in Prince George’s County plays a vital role in supporting parks, public recreation, green spaces, and community life and serves residents through a wide range of programs, facilities, recreational pursuits, and services that help people connect with nature, stay active, and build stronger neighborhoods. M-NCPPC work supports green, healthy, and resilient communities that depend on strong stewardship of public lands and natural resources.

Casey Trees and M-NCPPC have partnered on numerous tree planting and afforestation projects in Prince George’s County. Notably large sections of the former Lake Arbor Golf Course are being “re-wilded” with 70 acres of afforestation planned. Receiving the award are Mary Jo Kishter (Environmental Planner with M-NCPPC’s Park Planning and Environmental Stewardship), Dominic Quattrocchi (Supervisor and Arborist with M-NCPPC’s Park Planning and Environmental Stewardship), and Darius A. Stanton (Director of Parks for M-NCPPC, Prince George’s County).

Ulrich Hewer | Award for Volunteer Service

Ulrich is a longtime champion of Casey Trees and the broader effort to care for the DC region’s tree canopy.  Since 2001, he has volunteered to plant trees across the city, leading and educating others as a Team Leader. From 2013 to 2016, he also served on the Casey Trees Board of Directors.

Ulrich’s commitment to trees began early. With his father and brother, he planted fruit trees around their small village of about 1,000 people, where he grew up after World War II. He studied at Indiana University in Bloomington before working at the United Nations in New York and the World Bank in Washington. During that time, he learned about cocoa and rice cultivation in West Africa and later helped privatize state-owned enterprises in Eastern Europe so they could function properly in private-market economies. From 2001 to 2003, he also served as Director of the Kiev School of Economics, a leading university in Ukraine.

A proud Ward 4 resident, Ulrich has attended more than 180 Casey Trees events and helped plant hundreds of trees across the city. His continued involvement reflects his deep belief in the value and beauty of trees, community stewardship, and civic engagement.