22nd Annual SAG Awards® Partners with American Forests to Enhance the Environment in the Los Angeles Region

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 21, 2016) – The Screen Actors Guild Awards®, as part of its commitment to sustainable practices, today announced an environmental partnership with American Forests to plant a tree for every attendee at the 22nd Annual SAG Awards at the headwaters of the Los Angeles River that will enhance the LARiverWorks restoration project. The announcement was made at a tree planting ceremony held in conjunction with the City of Los Angeles Mayor's Office and Department of Public Works

A native tree signifying the initiative was planted at the L.A. River Greenway Trail pocket park in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Representing the SAG Awards was Committee Chair JoBeth Williams, Committee Member Woody Schultz, Executive Producer Kathy Connell and actor Katie Lowes ("Scandal"). Representing their respective organizations were American Forests President & CEO Scott Steen and Los Angeles Board of Public Works Commission President and Chief Film Liaison Kevin James.

Each Tree Helps the LA River
“The SAG Awards is proud to be joining with American Forests and the City of Los Angeles on this creative way to help ensure a sustainable future for the people of the Los Angeles and to make a positive impact on the region where the team of more than 500 people who bring the SAG Awards to the air live and work,” Connell said.

The SAG Awards partnership’s 1,250 trees will be planted in fire-damaged areas of the Los Angeles River's source in the Angeles National Forest supporting the City of Los Angeles and Urban Waters Federal Partnership efforts to revitalize the L.A. River, highlighting that upstream and downstream actions are necessary to ensure a sustainable future for millions of Angelenos and the lives that they touch worldwide.

Text-to-Give Live During the SAG Awards and Beyond
Guests at the 22nd Annual SAG Awards ceremony on Saturday, January 30 and the public are invited to add additional trees through a Text-to-Give initiative. By texting FORESTS to 80077 supporters can plant an additional ten trees in the Angeles National Forest for just $10.

In recognition of its ongoing efforts to implement sustainable initiatives and promote environmental awareness, the Screen Actors Guild Awards® has been honored for the last seven years with the Environmental Media Association (EMA)’s Green Seal. The SAG Awards is the only televised special event to have received this honor for that many consecutive years. In addition, in 2013 the SAG Awards received EMA's Green Production Award, an honor that distinguished the SAG Awards® amongst its peers for its environmentally progressive operations and ability to surpass its green efforts year after year.

Conservation Makes a Difference
The numerous green practices SAG Awards has instituted over the years are saving nearly four tons of paper per year through online credentialing, submissions, voting and delivery of media and for your consideration materials; a production-wide recycling and reuse program; conscientious selection of green stage and decor materials and use of zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell-powered red carpet power and lighting.

American Forests was founded in 1875, making it the first national nonprofit conservation organization in the country. It has planted more than 50 million trees in just the last 25 years. Their work has restored hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat, protected vital watersheds and sequestered millions of tons of greenhouse gases in all 50 states and in 45 countries.

The City of Los Angeles Restores Its River
Mayor Garcetti and the City of Los Angeles are working with many critical stakeholders to revitalize the 51-mile Los Angeles River and its more than 800 square mile watershed. On December 18, the Chief of Engineers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers endorsed the most sweeping restoration effort to address environmental damage that has occurred since the river was channelized in the 1930s. That federally-led restoration effort will take place along an 11-mile stretch of the river in the City of L.A. Mayor Garcetti and the Urban Waters Federal Partnership continue to encourage the planting of native species all along the river and in its upstream watershed because it strengthens biodiversity, creates important wildlife movement corridors, improves urban cooling and, in general, supports the sustainability of our region.

About American Forests
American Forests connects, educates, and inspires people to restore and protect rural and urban forests. Founded in 1875, the organization has served as a catalyst for many of the most important milestones in the conservation movement, including the founding of the U.S. Forest Service and national park system, the creation of the modern environmental movement, and literally thousands of forest ecosystem restoration and education efforts. Since 1991, American Forests has planted more than 50 million trees in forests throughout the U.S. and in 45 other countries, resulting in cleaner air and drinking water, restored habitat for wildlife, and the removal of millions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere. Learn more at www.americanforests.org.