Me, at the Wounded Knee, SD planting. (Photo by a Wounded Knee youth.)

Fifteen months ago, Joe and I were about to take a leap of faith. I was recently laid off from a full-time job, Joe was itching for a new video project, and we had become obsessed with native plants and animals in Hawaii. After much discussion and soul-searching, we had a plan.

We were ready to share our idea for a “dream” project, a 50-state tree planting tour and documentary we’d hoped would be a big gift from us to all living things; something that would fulfill everyone’s wishes in one fell swoop. We were ready to announce it to the world.

Looking back on that moment, one of the most emotionally complex I had ever experienced, I remember sitting at my laptop and taking a big breath before pressing “send” on the press release that would write the Plant a Wish mission in stone. We were going to all 50 states to plant native trees and direct our first feature documentary. Were going to start fundraising for our first of three tours right away, with a departure date just over a month away. We had a slightly crazed look in our eyes. Our first planting was on Memorial Day 2010, the offical launch of the tour, in the park where Joe grew up playing as a kid in Monona, WI.

Since then, we’ve planted indigenous trees around the country in 48 states with scientists, tribal leaders, public servants, teachers, students, senior citizens, children, celebrities, politicians, environmentalists and activists. We have interviewed some of the most intelligent, interesting and passionate people the country has to offer. We have filmed more gorgeousness than we know what to do with. (We’re brainstorming a few good uses for the footage that doesn’t make it in the finished film. More soon on that.)

As I write this letter on October 9, 2011, we are on our way to the final mainland planting of the entire 50-state mission. We’re on our way to Lander, Wyoming, where we’ll plant with The Nature Conservancy on a ranch they are restoring. We’ll plant a native tree in our 49th state – on the ranch with local families and staff from the conservancy on Tuesday.

At the moment we are driving through the Black Hills of South Dakota, filming the road ahead with our GoPro Hero Camera (thanks Imhoffs!), listening to 60s-inspired “Spaghetti Western” themed music on the satellite radio. (It gets better: we are about to drive through the town of Deadwood.) Our journey has been filled with magic moments like this. Our finished film will be a collection of the most beautiful moments, landscapes, stories, wildlife and voices we’ve been lucky to find along the way. We can’t wait to share it with you.

None of this would be possible if you didn’t believe in us. Yes, YOU. The person who reads our posts on Facebook or Twitter or checks in on our progress at our website, who has sponsored the tour, made a donation or shared our links, those who we’ve met along the road or gave us a place to sleep. This project may – on the surface – appear to be run by just Joe and myself. The truth is, it has taken all of us. We could never have done this alone, and besides, we wouldn’t want to.

As we’ve come through the last few states, a common question repeats. People want to know how we feel as we get closer and closer to the project’s end (a big finale in Hawaii on Saturday, November 5th).

Are we “over it”? Are we sad? Are we tired?

I have to admit, we’re all of those things and more. Kind of like how I felt when we were about to announce Plant a Wish to the world, I am a huge mix of emotions:

• Nervous, because we have put all of our personal money into Plant a Wish and still have $925 to raise online by the end of the day Tuesday 10/11. (If you can, donate here before Tuesday – it takes 4 days for $$ to transfer via PayPal and even longer via our fiscal sponsor.)
• Busy, because we’re planning our November 5th finale – Hawaii’s First Annual Native Tree Plant-Out event. (You can be a part of it, and in your own backyard or neighborhood! Every tree – and person – counts!)
• Sad, because the tour will end. I’m going to miss the anticipation of having new tree planting events in new places with new people.
• Hopeful, because this is only the beginning.
• Enthusiastic, because we can move ahead with writing our script, editing the film, and applying to festivals. Have you seen our trailer yet? Expect a new one this winter!
• Excited, because I get to see my cat soon, and return to my wonderful Maui family! (Especially my TEDxMaui co-producer Katie McMillan, who has been an absolute saint, carrying so much of the responsibility while I’ve been gone.)
• Anxious, because I’ll need to find a steady flow of income when I return. (Seriously, Maui Peeps. E-mail me with leads, here.)
• Inspired, because we have a few really good ideas for the future of Plant a Wish to keep it growing on Maui and around the world.

The one last feeling that stands out as the biggest and most potent is gratitude.

Plant a Wish has been so supported and uniquely blessed by your generosity. We hope we’ve made you proud to be a part of the Plant a Wish tour. We hope you’ll continue to be a part of it as we prepare to release our film and share the story with the world.

Thank you for making it possible for us to create the story. Let’s keep growing!

Best wishes,

Sara

To donate to Plant a Wish to help raise the remaining $925 the tour needs to complete, please click here to donate by Tuesday, 10/11.

We’re writing this blog entry from Eugene, Oregon, at a really cool coffee shop called The Wandering Goat. We just spent the night with really awesome members of the extended Plant a Wish family, and are getting ready for our Oregon planting (State #42) tomorrow.

Here’s a quick overview of our tour so far, done “travelogue-style”.

Photo by Sean Michael Hower, howerphoto.com

Thursday, 8/25
Flew out of Maui to take a red-eye from Honolulu to LAX to San Francisco. Ended up skipping L.A., landing in Oakland, and hunting for our bags back in SF when we landed. The good news? We got two flight vouchers worth $400 each – so our return flights are now paid for and our fundraising goal was decreased by $800. We also wrote this article for the 9/1/11 issue of Maui Time Weekly. The gods are on our side.

Friday, 8/26
After a crazy amount of shifting rental cars and picking up baggage and supplies, had to order a new tripod bag, since ours exploded on the way to the Maui airport. Also had to re-arrange all of our gear since we were headed to the Burning Man festival to connect with the Friends of Black rock and the Bureau of Land Management for a tree planting done in conjunction with the festival. Have you ever had to prepare for a week of self-sufficiency in a super dry, alkaline dusty desert?

Joe planting a native juniper with the Director of Friends of Black Rock

After some careful reflection, we decided to leave our good camera gear at our friend’s place in the Bay Area, and only use our digital camera and GoPro while there. Turns out to be a good move. (For those that wondered, we paid for the festival with our personal funds – not Plant a Wish donations – and really kept it low-impact, light and simple to keep costs down.)

Sunday 8/28 thru Monday 9/5
Carpool with a friend to Black Rock City, NV, the states’ third largest city that only exists for one week. Attend Burning Man. See great art, practice “radical self-reliance” in extreme weather conditions. Attend TEDxBlack Rock City (Sara is co-producing TEDxMaui, scheduled for January.) connect with really cool archaeologists, desert rangers, and various genius-artist types. Plant a native juniper at the new Black Rock BLM headquarters in Gerlach. Join the small group of people who have ever left Burning Man during the festival. Make awesome friends and spread the word about Plant a Wish.

This year, "The Man" took a step forward. Photo by Sara Tekula.

Wednesday, 9/7
Pick up tour vehicle from a really cool Hertz location in San Rafael, do lots of laundry, re-configure all luggage, gear, and prepare for the tour. Put the logos and decals on the car while parked at a gorgeous seaside park in Marin County. Drove Highway 1, collecting gorgeous footage along the way. Camped at Richardson Grove State Park. In awe of the redwoods.

The awe-inspiring, ever-living redwood.

Thursday, 9/8
Met up with Richard Giegner, an experienced redwood forest steward and native habitat advocate who works with various organizations in Southern Humboldt to protect and restore native habitat. Shot a great interview with him for the doc. Then, drove the entire length of the Mattole Watershed and picked up a native redwood from the Mattole Restoration Council, a really awesome nonprofit in Petrolia, CA. Visited the ocean location where the Mattole hits the ocean. Drooled over the gorgeous views, shot more footage. Camped up in the hills above Shelter Cove after a long day.

Planting the redwood at the headwaters of the Mattole Watershed.

Friday, 9/9
Planted our redwood tree with the fine folks at Sanctuary Forest in Whitethorn, CA. Filmed a great interview with interim director Tasha McKee. Headed north to Grizzly Creek State Park to interview Gary Graham Hughes, Executive Director of EPIC, the nonprofit with the coolest initials ever (stands for The Environmental Protection Information Center). to Arcata, CA and connected with friends of Maui friends….got to sleep in a real bed, and take a real shower. Bliss.

Saturday, 9/10
Got a great tour of the old growth redwoods, interviewed a forest defense specialist in the Arcata, CA area to get the activist perspective. Exhausted ourselves and ate really great burritos for dinner.

Sunday, 9/11
Made the trek to Eugene, Oregon. Drove through a giant tree. We’re still here, working in a coffee shop to continue coordinating interview shoots, planting event details, and gathering tree donations and other collaborations. Announced our 9/13 Oregon planting with the Roloff Family of “Little People, Big World”. Heading to Portland this afternoon to meet up with old friends from Maui.

Upcoming Planting Dates:
9/13, Hillsboro, OR
9/17, Celebrate Elwha, Port Angeles, WA

Visit our Tour Page for more info.

And…of course, as always, hustling for donations! If you like what we’re doing, please consider giving a donation of any amount via our online donation portal here. PayPal and Tax-Deductible options available. We’re just past the half-way mark to our fundraising goal. Every contribution counts to get more trees in the ground and to make the best film possible!

Makawao, HI Jan 13 – The Maui-based founders of Plant a Wish, a nation-wide tree planting tour and documentary project begun in 2010, have announced their upcoming return to the continental U.S. for the second installment in their mission to plant native trees in all 50 U.S. States. They are scheduled to begin this second phase of the project in mid-March and are scheduling visits to communities in 18 new states, which will bring their total to 43 – just seven states shy of their goal.

Founders Joe Imhoff and Sara Tekula – who are a husband and wife film making team – first announced the Plant a Wish project on Earth Day 2010, with the pair soon after traveling to 25 states in the mid-west and northeast in June and July of the same year. With a message encouraging the restoration of local native habitat, the duo depended largely on popular social media tools to raise funds and connect with local nonprofit organizations, tree nurseries, a variety of community members, and landowners to arrange tree planting events in each location. At these gatherings, participants are asked to write wishes on small scraps of paper and then plant them under a tree native to their location – hence the name, “Plant a Wish”.

“The planting of written wishes under trees began as a private thing Sara and I liked to do on our own,” says Imhoff. “As we’ve encouraged random people to plant their wishes along the tour, we’ve all come to see it as a powerful symbol of our connection to nature. Those trees are even more special to the communities we’re meeting because of that very personal, simple gesture they’ve made, and I’m willing to bet that they will want that tree to stay around.”

In March, Imhoff and Tekula will fly again to the mainland to document the road-trip across the entire southern U.S., planting trees in 18 more states, from Florida in the east to California in the west. (The full list of locations is available on their website.) The Plant a Wish project founders will again connect with local land stewards and tree experts along the way, highlighting the work they do and examining the issues we are all facing such as global warming, urban sprawl, the oil catastrophe in the Gulf, loss of biodiversity, and various industrial impacts.

“Along the way, the tree-planting events are opportunities for us to meet incredible people from all walks of life,” says Tekula. “As filmmakers, we enjoy documenting their stories about the history of the land they call home, and learning how special these places are. We also seek out cultural landmarks and extraordinary historic trees and capture their beauty on film, and we interview experts who can shed some light on the importance of native trees and plants everywhere.”

Tekula is a journalist and former TV documentary producer, while Imhoff is the Outreach Coordinator for Skyline Eco-Adventures, a zipline company known for its support of land restoration and watershed preservation on Maui. The two share a passion for film making, and in 2004, formed their production company, Noni Films. The Plant a Wish adventure is the subject of their first feature film, to be completed in 2012.

“We wanted to take our love for the land a big step forward,“ said Imhoff. “Living in Hawaii, we’re learning about the history of this fragile ecosystem and how it’s in danger because of humans’ choices throughout history. This project is a reminder that each and every local landscape has a very special story to tell. Each native species is unique and special – and in most cases very useful in its home environment. One woman we interviewed called trees ‘marvels of engineering’ – and that’s turning out to be very true everywhere we go. It’s important for us to use the tools of film making to tell these stories.”

Imhoff and Tekula will be planting area-specific native trees everywhere they go during the tour because “native trees have the unique ability to adapt to the locations they evolved in over thousands of years,” says Tekula. “In Delaware, we learned that a single oak tree can support up to 600 different types of moths and butterflies,” says Tekula, “which means there is a lot of food for birds when there’s an oak around. Birds need to eat, too.”

Imhoff adds, “The same idea holds true in every location we visit: native trees are one of the building blocks for the life we see all around us. Nowhere is this more important than in our home state of Hawaii, which has been called the ‘posterchild for extinction‘ by several experts we’ve met on tour. Native trees need to be returned to our landscape if we want the islands to sustain us, and we’ve been sharing that message with everyone we meet along the way. In a way, lessons learned in Hawaii can change the world.”

To offset the costs of their project, Imhoff and Tekula are using grassroots and web-based fundraising methods. Their ability to complete a tour depends heavily on the kindness of friends and family for lodging, and sponsors to support the costs of travel and filmmaking. A contributor giving $20 or more receives a credit in their film, and has a wish planted on their behalf. Interested community members can follow their blog at www.plantawish.org/blog, and join the Plant a Wish social networks, at www.facebook.com/PlantAWish or at www.twitter.com/PlantAWish

To become a sponsor, or for more information, please call Plant a Wish at 808-250-4030 or visit the
website, www.plantawish.org

Second photo courtesy of Sean Michael Hower at howerphoto.com