Hess Corp.’s Competency Assurance & training staff and interns in its Job Experience Training (JET) program joined 2,000 Trees for Minot and the Minot Parks Forestry in planting 13 crabapple trees in the park, which now has 14 trees of different crabapple varieties.

The JET program provides interns with experience in reliability operator roles, mechanic roles and instrumentation and electrical technicians. Vanessa Amon, a supervisor in Competency Assurance & Training, said all 11 interns came to help, including some from Watford City and Tioga.

“One of the core values that Hess has is social responsibility, and we really want to get them involved in the communities that we operate in,” Amon said. “It’s a nice one to be able to support, and kind of show them the importance of showing up in the communities that we work in and giving back.”

Donna Bye, co-coordinator for 2,000 Trees Minot, said the original 1,000 Trees for Minot initiative has been rebranded because more than 1,360 trees already have been planted since the commitment began in 2021.

Jill Schramm/MDN Logan Longtin, left, and Michael Kleen with Minot Parks Forestry brace a new tree planting in Green Valley Park Thursday. A sign indicates the variety of crabapple tree.

“It was a five-year plan, and we finished in three, and we just really weren’t ready to be done. So, we are going to keep it going for a couple more years and try to hit that 2,000. In essence, we have less than 700 trees to go,” Bye said.

The more than 1,360 trees include not only plantings organized by 1,000 Trees for Minot or by Minot Parks Forestry but also trees planted by residents in their neighborhoods. Residents can obtain information on how to record their tree plantings by connecting with 1,000 Trees for Minot on its social media.

The park district also has donated the funding for tree plantings and has worked with Lowe’s Garden Center to acquire trees appropriate for the local climate. Various businesses have been supportive of the project as well.

Hess has helped plant 357 trees through funding and volunteer participation. The company made a 2025 commitment to 2,000 Trees for Minot to purchase 80 trees for planting across public parks, boulevards and downtown spaces in 2025 and 2026.

Thursday’s planting in Green Valley Park replaces trees, mostly willows, that died in the 2011 flood. Trees play an important role in the environment, Bye noted.

Jill Schramm/MDN Gordon Fuller with Hess Corp.’s Job Experience Training program smooths out the mulch around a newly planted crabapple tree in Green Valley Park Thursday.

“They help clean the air when we have smoky and foggy days. They provide shade. They provide habitat,” she said.

Additionally, the crabapple trees in Green Valley Park will provide visual interest with the different varieties and colors, Bye added. Signs identifying the crabapple variety are posted next to each tree.

City Forester Troy Regstad, who chose the crabapple theme, envisions an eventual crabapple blossom festival in Minot in the vein of the annual celebration of cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. There’s room in the park for more crabapple trees as new varieties are developed in coming the years, but the 14 trees now taking root will make a lovely start, Regstad said.

“I’m excited to see it about five years from now, in mid-May, when they are blooming,” he said.