You don’t have to embark on an expensive, far-flung adventure to reap the benefits of the great outdoors. In fact, an awe-inspiring natural escape is closer than you think. Even in urban areas, connecting with nature can lower stress, improve mood, enhance focus, and provide a sense of wonder and inspiration. So if you’re looking for a way to feel healthier and less stressed that doesn’t involve ongoing costly subscriptions or gear, take a fresh look at your local landscape and uncover a new appreciation for the nature around you.
Whitey Lueck, an instructor in the landscape architecture school at the University of Oregon, leads tree walks and teaches classes designed to encourage students to notice and get to know the trees around them. One of his spring class assignments is to have the students select a bud on a tree and follow along on its emergence and growth as the weeks go by. He hopes to imbue participants with an appreciation for trees that moves them from simply “backdrop” to something that the students actually notice and admire.
A Natural Affinity
Lueck says there is a natural affinity that draws humans to trees. “Trees used to be our home way back in Eastern Africa,” he says. “We design our campuses and our parks and our homes with a lawn with space for trees. And where do people like to sit? They like to sit under the tree with their back to the trunk. I maintain that we’re hardwired to feel very comfortable sitting in the shade of a tree and looking out to an open landscape.”
Reconnecting with the natural world can be an easily accessible mini-vacation for body and mind. Appreciating the trees, plants, animals, skies, and land around you taps into our deep ancestral bonds with nature. It can be as simple as just walking around the block and noticing the different trees and plants in your neighbors’ yards, or heading out to a park or nature trail that is nearby. Whatever it is, just open your eyes with intention and curiosity to view your everyday surroundings in a new light.
Lueck’s interest in botany and horticulture came about naturally, you could say. He grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where his father was a horticulturist. “Both my parents were nature friendly,” Lueck says. “I started out in undergraduate school in biochemistry, then moved to premed, and then decided I really liked plants. But it really wasn’t until I came to Eugene that I started to focus more on trees.”
Monthly Tree Walks
Lueck did a tree inventory of most of downtown Eugene, and one thing led to the next. He started teaching in the landscape program at Lane Community College. Lueck’s flagship course, which he has taught at UO every spring since 2005, is “Trees Across Oregon.” In the fall, he teaches “The Nature of Eugene,” which covers the flora, fauna, geography, geology, climate, and history of sites in the city. In winter, he teaches a course called “Living Landscapes,” about nature-friendly landscaping dominated by native plants. Most of the time, teaching takes place outdoors. He takes his students and other groups out on walks around the campus, and on the first Saturday of the month from April to November he leads walks around town to different neighborhoods. Lueck also hosts a Nordic film and lecture series under the aegis of the landscape architecture program, entitled “The Nordic Landscape in Contemporary Film.” Before each film, he gives a 20-minute lecture that highlights the landscape in the movie. (Google “Whitey tree walks” for info on both the walks and the films.)
The UO campus, at just under 300 acres, has approximately 4,000 trees of 500 different kinds. Meander east of Cascade Hall to view a dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). This tree was grown from the first seeds of the species to be planted outside of China after the trees, believed to have been long extinct, were found growing in a remote Chinese valley in 1945. The north quad contains some of the oldest trees on campus, including a variety of dogwoods and magnolias.
The Willamette Valley looks different through the eyes of a tree expert like Lueck. He is quick to point out that this part of the Willamette Valley had very few trees until foreign settlers planted them, starting in the mid-1800s. “The only place trees were dense was along the rivers,” he says. “People don’t learn that in school. You learn about the rainforest but not about the trees where you are actually living. It’s absolutely remarkable that in the 1800s, most of what became Eugene and Springfield was treeless.”
Does he have a favorite tree? No, that’s too hard to pick! “I have lots and lots of favorites!” he says. “The tree I like the most is the one I’m under at that moment.”
Opportunities Abound
The UO campus, so close for many locals, offers ample opportunities to embrace the health benefits of nature. The grounds are easy to meander, and a plethora of trees are close at hand without even leaving town.
Beyond the UO campus, Lane County is brimming with accessible natural escapes and outdoor adventures. A short drive takes you to hikes along the McKenzie River or through old-growth stands in Willamette National Forest. The Ridgeline Trail winds through the hills overlooking Eugene and Springfield for scenic urban hikes. Mt. Pisgah is a 209-acre area where visitors can explore a variety of trails and ecological habitats. And while you may not have Whitey Lueck along as your guide, an expert eye isn’t required. Nature is waiting to be discovered each day among the familiar trees, parks, trails, and open spaces all around us.
