by Bailey White
Staff Writer
Sally Lee had no choice but to get involved in Greenscape, the non-profit organization that has made the planting, protection and promotion of trees its mission since the 1970s.
Her mother, Ann Baker, just happens to be one of its founding members, and she instilled in Lee early on the benefits of a community enhanced with trees.
“I definitely believed in mom’s work,” said Lee, the organization’s new president. “Greenscape began as her and [co-founder] Susan Fisher’s dream and passion and I saw it, lived around it and it became my passion, too.”
Lee, a mother of two and a stepmother to two, has been on the board for more than 12 years, and “the time was right for me to get into a leadership role.”
“I think she has her mother’s drive and conviction,” said Anna Dooley, Greenscape’s executive director. “She’s ready to tackle the organization and she brings with her that family tradition, but also a young and fresh approach to the office.”
Since its formation, Greenscape has added live oaks, dogwoods, Bradford pear trees, ash trees and crepe myrtles to almost every part of the city. They’ve worked with neighborhood and community groups to put trees in parks, at schools and along highways and roadways, funding the work through grants and annual events such as the Flowering Tree Sale held each February.
During the coming year, Lee, a commercial real estate broker, wants to concentrate on expanding the organization.
“We have a really good, solid foundation to go on,” she said. “But we’re looking to expand the project and extend our presence. I’d like to establish someone to act almost as a liaison between us and the City Council.”
“We do a lot of projects with City Council members,” said Dooley. “It’s sometimes easy to get complacent and think that everyone knows who we are. But now, particularly with the new members of Council, it’s important that they know who we are.”
And, Lee said, they’re excited about working with Mayor John Peyton.
“He sat on our board and is a past president,” said Lee. “We had a great relationship with the [former mayor John] Delaney Administration and we’re looking forward to continuing that with the new mayoral office.”
It’s also likely that Greenscape soon will take on new projects in the downtown area, a move that will be a return to roots for an organization that began when Baker and Fisher first planted trees in the area 30 years ago.
With almost every area of the city seeing expansion, it seems Greenscape might be called upon to advocate for less development and more untouched greenspace.
“But that isn’t part of our role,” said Lee. “We’re not against growth, although there is such a thing as smart, managed growth. Our mission is to promote greenery in the city, to plant trees and to encourage others to do the same.”
Education, however, will be a primary goal of the organization. They’ve long been partnered with JEA in a program called Greenpower, through which JEA provides plants for the community and distributes materials on the benefits and necessity of a green community. Members from the organization served in an advisory capacity to establish the City’s Landscape Ordinance and sat on the Mayor’s Environmental Advisory Committee.
“When mother and Susan started with the trees downtown, they had to educate the city,” said Lee. “In some cases it’s taken years for people to understand the impact of trees and it’s not just beautification issues. There are so many other benefits to having a green community.”
She may have inherited the Greenscape principles from her mother, but Lee has taken them and made them her own.
“I think the motivation behind my work is that what we do can reach everyone,” said Lee. “Anyone, from the youngest to the oldest can enjoy the beauty trees provide.”