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| David Bell '65 is a director of the National Forest Foundation, which allocates funds to local volunteer groups that plant trees, build trails and nurture the forest and its wildlife. |
As a CEO and an industry leader in marketing communications, David Bell has a busy life. So how and where he choose
s to volunteer says a lot about what he values. Bell serves as a director of the National Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization that he explains "acts like a venture capitalist" allocating funds to local volunteer groups that plant trees, build trails and nurture the forest and its wildlife.
Bell got involved with the National Forest Foundation because he considers forests "among our most precious resources." He notes, "The national forests serve as a place where America recreates by hiking, camping, skiing, kayaking, canoeing, fishing and hunting." He concedes that protecting those precious resources has gotten tougher. As National Forest Service budgets have been frozen or shrunk, the costs of fighting forest fires have swelled. At the same time, more people are using Forest Service lands, which puts more pressure on already frayed resources. And that, Bell says, "is where the National Forest Foundation comes in to assist."
Bell is proud that the National Forest Foundation has worked with more than 1,300 partners to complete some 250 projects. Thanks to the foundation, volunteers and young staffers have:
- treated more than 9,000 acres of noxious weeds;
- planted 52,500 trees;
- worked on 1,500 miles of trails;
- restored some 900 acres of wildlife habitat;
- reduced the fire hazard on more than 7,500 acres
| 'My next car will be a hybrid. I've taken to walking a lot.' |
Bell notes that the National Forest Foundation gives public forests a "a huge multiplier effect" with an investment ratio of 4:1, meaning that for every dollar donated to the foundation, the country's forests gain four dollars worth of help.
At Macalester, the Minnetonka native was a champion debater and student body president. Although he majored in political science, expecting to go to law school, it was an independent study in advertising during a January Interim term that sparked his career. He went on to become president and CEO of Bozell Worldwide, the agency responsible for the oft-imitated "Got Milk?" campaign. He received a Distinguished Citizen Citation from Macalester in 1979. Today, the former Macalester trustee is chairman emeritus of the Interpublic Group, the world's sixth-largest agency holding company, and a newly elected member of the Advertising Hall of Fame.
Bell lives in Manhattan, where he's begun making changes in his life beyond his forest volunteering. "My next car will be a hybrid," he says. "I've taken to walking a lot and have become very conscious about what happens with the use of energy."
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