On Sept. 18, landscape and tree care companies donated their services at Camp Butler National Cemetery as part of the annual national day of service sponsored by Saluting Branches – Arborists United for Veteran Remembrance. For 10 years this nonprofit organization based in Minnesota has honored veterans by organizing tree care professionals to volunteer their time and skills at properties dedicated to veterans. This is the largest one-day volunteer event in the tree industry. More than 4,000 volunteers were scheduled to participate on or around Sept. 18 at 110 sites across the country, including veterans hospitals, homes and cemeteries. The other site in Illinois was the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Will County.
Steve Green, master arborist at Green View in Springfield, coordinated the event at Camp Butler. Green has a personal connection. His father was career military, and his mother is buried at Camp Butler. So is Bill Bolt, a Navy veteran and certified arborist who helped train Green. "A site like Camp Butler is truly hallowed ground, and those of us with personal connections to the military feel fortunate to be able to honor our veterans and their families by our efforts," said Green.
Saluting Branches provided volunteer services in the past at Camp Butler, but not since 2019. This year Kresse Tree Wurxx located in Buffalo and Oak Bros Tree Care and Removal in Bloomington removed several large, dead trees. Wright Tree Service, which is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, also a national corporate sponsor with Saluting Branches, trimmed trees and removed dead wood. Green View donated several new trees, including oak and serviceberry. The work required large-scale, heavy equipment, such as grapple saw and knuckle boom cranes, which is beyond the capacity of what the Camp Butler staff could perform on its own. Chris Roberts, cemetery caretaker supervisor, says it is a great opportunity to get work done that saves them the time and expense of hiring contractors. The value of the day's combined effort to the cemetery was about $74,000, according to Green.
Several local businesses provided food and drinks for the volunteers – Cured Catering, Mel-O-Cream, Pepsi and Farm and Home Supply. The Inter-Veterans Burial Detail of Sangamon County provided snacks and door prizes.
The project came about through the leadership of Steve Green and camaraderie with his colleagues. Bobby Kresse says the arborist community is close-knit and shares expertise with each other. Wright Tree Service does a lot of work for Ameren, which led to Ameren forester Dave Schenck volunteering to help. Josh Guin is the president/CEO of Oak Bros. He, too, is heavily involved in the tree care industry and national trade association and was encouraged by a colleague from Virginia to get involved with Saluting Branches. He has employees who are veterans and active military.
Two years ago, Guin won the rights to a chipper for one year in a raffle provided by Saluting Branches. That prompted him to consider what his company could do to honor veterans. He created the Veteran Tree Care Grant Program. Veterans who live in McLean County can apply for eight hours of volunteer tree care at their residential home. Applications are open Sept. 1- 30. Twelve are randomly selected. Each month for 12 months, Oak Bros will provide tree care services for a veteran. Once all the work is complete, all 12 veterans and their families are invited to a banquet dinner with Oak Bros staff. (Info at https://bloomingtontreeservicecompany.com/services/profile/veteran-tree-care-grant-program)
Often people are reactive rather than proactive in caring for trees. Guin, Green and their fellow arborists are dedicated to respecting trees and keeping them healthy and strong to preserve them for generations to come. Guin says people don't go to parks or golf courses without trees and typically don't bury family members in cemeteries without trees. Trees are important to people, whether consciously or subconsciously. Green describes trees as a symbolic uniting of heaven and earth.
Camp Butler National Cemetery is located near Riverton and occupies a portion of what was the second-largest military training camp in Illinois during the Civil War. It is one of the 14 original national cemeteries authorized by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. More than 25,000 people are interred in the cemetery, including 866 Union and 776 Confederate soldiers who died at the camp between 1862 and 1865. Green says that some of the trees are as old as the cemetery.
Roberts says families of people buried at Camp Butler appreciate the improvements because of Saluting Branches, and it is good to see how much the community cares. With all the negative things in the news, "it is nice to see something good. It is a feel-good day."
Karen Ackerman Witter is a frequent contributor to Illinois Times and enjoys writing about positive things happening in the community. She met Steve Green after the June 2023 derecho when she needed a master arborist to assess the trees in her yard.