News Release – September 9, 2013

World Trade Center Survivor Tree Sapling, one of 450, to be Presented at Ceremony for Communities Affected by Recent Tragedies

Survivor Tree Seedling Program Inaugural Presentation Scheduled at Citi Field Preceding 9/11 Baseball Game

September 9, 2013 – New York, New York - On September 11, 2001, one tree, a Bradford Pear, survived the World Trade Center attacks. Barely alive, it endured following years of off-site intensive care and rehabilitation by The New York Parks Department. Home again at the World Trade Center and cared for by Bartlett Tree Experts, The Survivor Tree now thrives, and is a national symbol of hope and resiliency.

During the tree’s rehabilitation, tree scientists at Bartlett collected seeds and propagated 450 descendants of the original tree. Today, the saplings average three to four feet in height, and now reside on the grounds of John Bowne Agricultural High School in Flushing, Queens, New York.  

As part of the newly unveiled Survivor Tree Seedling Program, each year henceforth, saplings will be conveyed in September to communities affected by tragedy. As with the Survivor Tree, the saplings will provide an inspirational landmark for these communities, in the spirit of hope and resiliency. 

In a special inaugural presentation at Citi Field preceding the September 11 New York Mets, Washington Nationals game, a sapling donation ceremony will be held. Participants include the 9/11 Memorial, Mets representatives, Bartlett Tree Experts, students and faculty from John Bowne High School, and those receiving on behalf of the following communities that suffered tragedies this past year:

1. The City of Boston: in honor of the three killed and many injured in the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013.
2. Far Rockaways, NY: for the devastation sustained from Superstorm Sandy in 2012. 
3. Prescott, Arizona: in honor of the fallen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite firefighting squad that lost 19 men on June 30, 2013.

About Bartlett Tree Experts
The F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company was founded in 1907 by Francis A. Bartlett and is the world’s leading scientific tree and shrub care company. The organization’s current chairman, Robert A. Bartlett Jr., represents the third generation of Bartlett family management. Bartlett has locations in 27 U.S. states, Canada, Ireland and Great Britain. Services include pruning, pest and disease management, fertilization and soil management, cabling and bracing, tree lightning protection systems and tree/stump removal. Its corporate offices are located in Stamford, Connecticut.