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Brewers and Packers Help Plant Trees

Cover of the Team Strategy Playbook, and covers of both sports partner programs.

The Team Strategy Playbook [PDF] shares the fundamentals of the tree planting programs, First Downs for Trees and Root, Root, Root for the Brewers.

This playbook acts as a historical record for how the DNR partnered with professional sports teams. The book outlines the steps and timeline associated with the creation of these programs. Use this book to understand how these partnerships were made and take a closer look at some of the wonderful programs the DNR urban forestry team has created.

First Downs for Trees

One of the Packers’ Green Team Initiatives, the First Downs for Trees [PDF] Program donates trees to participating Brown County communities and the Oneida Nation based on the number of Packer first downs made during the previous season. Since 2011, over 2,760 Packer trees have been planted, providing total lifetime benefits of more than $13 million through storm water runoff reduction, CO2 reduction, energy saving, air quality improvement and property value increase (see fact sheet [PDF]).

Now in its fourth season, the Green Bay Packers have added two new partners — Green Bay Packaging Inc. and SCA — to their First Downs for Trees team. Other program partners include DNR Urban Forestry and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. Additional funds for this program have been provided through a U.S. Forest Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grant.

Read the original proposal [PDF] to the Green Bay Packers.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant applications and report

Press releases

Associated resources

ROOT, ROOT, ROOT for the Brewers (R3B)

This was a partnership between the Milwaukee Brewers and the DNR. Initiated in 2011, the program distributed 7,500 tree seedlings annually to fans at one regular season Brewers’ game in addition to donating approximately 150 landscape trees for planting along the Hank Aaron State Trail and in communities near Miller Park. The team donated one tree for every 20,000 tickets sold during the regular season with the goal to offset the number of trees used to print the team's regular-season tickets.