Page 24 - Georgia Forestry - Issue3 - Summer 2021

Start Spreading
the News
Lacking deep-pocketed sponsors for a massive ad campaign, Riley said the HTHL leadership group is working on strategies that will carry their messages far and wide. A number of identified audiences are highlighted on the HTHL website: tree advocacy groups, municipalities, planners, homeowners’ associations, land- scape designers, medical practitioners, park boards, assisted living, employees, schools, universities, hospitals, architects and businesses.
Numerous tools for speakers are being developed as well, and now that in-person meetings are beginning to return, more personal outreach to associations and other organizations will take place. And Riley said the Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives website will soon offer communications pack- ages that anyone can use to share these highly relatable messages with our own individual “choirs.”
“People really should take a look at the Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives website,” said Georgia Forestry Commission Public Relations Director Wendy Burnett. “This material opens so many doors to conver- sations about forestry for all of us, on every level. We want to actively share the good news that health and trees go hand in hand, and the more people we can enlist as ambassadors, the better!”
Burnett said that Georgia’s abundant forests and temperate climate make it easy for people to get out and enjoy nature. The Georgia Forestry Com- mission website at GATrees.org offers abundant resources to learn more.
“There’s a global health crisis going on,” said Riley. “Obesity, chronic disease and mental health are big issues. Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives is an idea whose time has come. This is a long-term investment, and like doctors washing up between surgeries or cities being built with planned utilities, we want the message to become standard practice and part of society’s fabric,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for us to talk about all the benefits of forestland and trees.”
STASIA KELLY IS A MEDIA RELATIONS SPECIALIST WITH THE GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION. STASIA IS FOCUSED ON TELLING THE STORY OF FORESTRY AND THE IMMENSE IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRY ON GEORGIA’S ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND HERITAGE.
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