From Chad Hunter, Aspiration's Head of Sustainability.
We’re excited to announce a partnership between Aspiration and American Forests to restore forests affected by wildfires! Specifically, we are helping American Forests and the USDA Forest Service restore areas affected by the 2020 Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest in California.
Read on for all the details.
American Forests Has Been Planting and Conserving Trees for Almost 150 Years
American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the United States. They even helped create the U.S. Forest Service. As part of the REPLANT Act of 2021, they are working with the Forest Service and other partners to scale up climate-informed reforestation across the U.S. They are:
Helping the Forest Service develop 10-year plans to build reforestation capacity on national forests.
Working with partners to grow the number of trained forestry professionals.
Using science and cutting edge technology to restore forests with greater climate resilience.
Strengthening the supply chain that collects seeds, grows seedlings, and plants forests.
This is crucial work, which is why we’re proud to be playing our part in it by helping restore forests burned in the Creek Fire.
The 2020 Creek Fire was the 5th Largest Wildfire in California History
A few stats:
~380,000 acres burned
856 structures destroyed
30,000+ people evacuated
26 people injured
$500,000,000+ in damages
These were just some of the effects from 2020’s Creek Fire in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The fire burned for well over 3 months before it was fully contained.
It was a terrible event - but fortunately, the story doesn’t end there.
Restoring the Sierra Nevada
American Forests is partnering with several organizations, including Aspiration, to restore forests across the U.S . This will have an incredible impact on the forest ecosystem, including:
Restoring habitat for Pacific fishers and other wildlife species
Maintaining healthy watersheds and creeks that feed the San Joaquin River drainage
Absorbing carbon dioxide out of the air to help fight climate change
Returning the forest’s scenic beauty
We hope you’ll agree these are all outcomes worth striving for!
What Our Donations Help Fund
Restoring a forest is hard work, and requires plenty of resources. That’s why we’re donating 10% of all of Aspiration’s ‘Pay What Is Fair’ (PWIF) contributions to American Forests from June through December 2024.
These donations will support the tools, humanpower, and nursery infrastructure needed to complete the restoration work.
“As climate change reshapes our forests as we know them, we need science-driven reforestation strategies to help restore these lands and the invaluable environmental, recreational and economic benefits they provide. We are thankful for Aspiration’s partnership as we work with the Forest Service to replant and grow the forests of the future.”
- Brian Kittler, Chief Program Officer, Resilient Forests.
What You Can Do to Support the Cause
If you’re already an Aspiration customer with a PWIF contribution set, then you’re golden! 10% of that contribution each month is going directly to American Forests.
If you haven’t already setup a PWIF contribution but would like to, you can set it up by navigating to Aspiration.com and signing into your account. Click on Settings - Pay What Is Fair - and choose the amount that’s right for you.
And if you’re not currently an Aspiration customer, consider applying today!