Dairyland to plant 72K trees to help restore forests

Arbor Day Foundation partnership encourages auto and motorcycle customers to choose paperless billing

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (April 20, 2021) – Dairyland® has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to help regenerate forests from coast to coast in communities where the auto and motorcycle insurance brand has a strong customer presence.

Dairyland, a brand of Wisconsin-based Sentry Insurance, worked with the Arbor Day Foundation to identify locations where forest regeneration is needed due to natural disasters and other threats. Dairyland will plant more than 72,000 trees—one for each customer who chose paperless billing in 2020.

“Our customers have long had paperless billing options,” said Pete Anhalt, Dairyland president. “After we told them we’d plant a tree on their behalf when they choose paperless billing, however, they enrolled in record numbers to support this important cause.”

Americans consume 446 pounds of paper products per person each year—a weight heavier than many car engines. By enrolling in paperless billing, Dairyland customers help reduce consumption and costs while also saving trees. As highlighted by the Arbor Day Foundation, trees help fight climate change, tame stormwater, clean our air, protect our drinking water, and provide needed habitat for wildlife.

Dairyland initially intended to plant trees just in Wisconsin. This included the Bayfield County Forest where the Arbor Day Foundation will work with local planting partners on forest regeneration to create habitat for wildlife such as ruffed grouse, turkey, and deer. Bayfield County Forest also serves as an important nesting site for many types of songbirds.

Due to Dairyland customers’ resounding response to the paperless program, the company expanded the tree planting program to five additional locations throughout the country:

• Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida—Hurricane Michael destroyed 12,000 acres of mature slash pine trees in 2018. Dairyland will plant more than 20,000 trees here.
• Angeles National Forest in California—The 2016 Sand Fire destroyed old-growth trees, including big cone Douglas fir, in this public forest near Los Angeles. Restoration efforts will help rehabilitate watersheds on the Los Angeles River.
• Bladen Lakes State Forest in North Carolina—Cape Fear River flooding caused by Hurricane Florence in 2018 devastated young trees in this state forest. Reforesting will restore critical habitat for wildlife and help the area withstand future floods.
• National Forests in Colorado—Regional spruce beetles have taken a toll on mature trees in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison national forests. Planting a mixture of Engelmann spruce and Douglas fir will establish a young, resilient stand of trees to face a potentially harsh climatic future.
• Private lands in Texas—Four centuries of clearing for agriculture and development has decimated longleaf pine ecosystems, which are well-known for their diversity of plant and animal species. This project focuses on working with private landowners who are committed to restoring longleaf stands on their lands.

Dairyland, as part of its ongoing efforts to encourage customers to choose paperless billing, will continue to partner with the Arbor Day Foundation to create a more sustainable and healthier future for us all.

About Dairyland

Dairyland is a brand of the Sentry Insurance Group. Auto and motorcycle policyholders of Dairyland brand insurance receive multiple coverage options, money-saving discounts, and outstanding customer service. For more information, including underwriting companies, visit dairylandinsurance.com.

About Arbor Day Foundation

Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has grown to become the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, with more than 1 million members, supporters, and valued partners. Since its founding, more than 400 million Arbor Day Foundation trees have been planted in neighborhoods, communities, cities, and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to help others understand and use trees as a solution to many of the global issues we face today, including air quality, water quality, climate change, deforestation, poverty, and hunger. As one of the world’s largest operating conservation foundations, the Arbor Day Foundation, through its members, partners and programs, educates and engages stakeholders and communities across the globe to involve themselves in its mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees.