21-04-2025
Volunteers plant 15 trees at Oneida park during 2025 NFL Draft community greening project
HOBART - Volunteers planted 15 shade trees at Amelia Cornelius Culture Park April 21 during an NFL community greening project in honor of the 2025 NFL Draft, building upon revitalization efforts at the park and the adjacent Oneida Veterans Memorial Park.
Planting trees has countless benefits for the environment including carbon storage, water quality improvements and wildlife habitat, Gov. Tony Evers said in his opening remarks. The event adds to over 42 million trees planted in Wisconsin since Evers joined the global Trillion Trees Initiative in 2021, he said, and brings the state closer to its pledge to plant 100 million trees by 2031.
"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago," Evers said. "Second best time is right now, so this is the time to do it."
The tree planting event is one of several community greening projects NFL Green, the league's environmental program, and Verizon are hosting in Green Bay in honor of the draft. NFL Green works to create a positive green legacy in the cities that host the league's events, Associate Director Susan Groh said.
"Over the years, we have planted hundreds of thousands of trees," Groh said. "We've built community gardens, restored habitat, everything from restoring rivers to restoring coral reefs. So it's been an honor to do that kind of work here in Green Bay."
The event is just the start of NFL Green and Verizon's environmental efforts in Green Bay, Groh said. Over the next few weeks, another 40 trees will be planted on Oneida land and 35 trees will be planted in Brown County parks, she said.
Verizon will also plant over 5,000 trees in Douglas County forests, or 20 trees per NFL draft pick, Associate Director of Sustainability Susan Lucas said. NFL Green and Verizon have planted over 300,000 trees throughout their 13-year partnership, Lucas said.
Forestry is an important aspect of restoring the Oneida Nation reservation lands, Oneida Nation Chair Tehassi Hill said at the event. Before volunteers began planting, Hill, Evers, Groh, Lucas and NFL Green Director Jack Groh helped plant a maple tree, which Hill said is the leader of all trees and is significant in the Oneida culture.
"We are only as healthy as our environment," Hill said. "So we've tried to do our best here in the Oneida community to restore the land, make sure it's healthy for our communities to live and play and harvest from."
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@ or (920) 431-8314. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @vivianbarrett_.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: NFL Green, Verizon plant trees at Oneida park for 2025 NFL Draft
