Tree trust donation has got the university covered
A charity started by a Bishop tree farm will donate $1 million worth of trees to replenish the University of Georgia's decimated tree canopy, battered by years of bad weather and construction.
Continue reading the rest of "Tree trust donation has got the university covered" by Athens Banner-Herald
The first trees donated by the Select Sustainable Tree Trust could begin growing on campus this fall, said Dexter Adams, director of UGA's grounds department.
The university's main campus has lost hundreds of trees over the past few years to drought as well as a freak snowstorm that wiped out about 200 earlier this year - some small, some big trees that could be a century or more old, Adams said.
Some of the UGA tree canopy also has been lost to construction projects.
"It's taken a real beating," Adams said.
UGA workers have planted hundreds of trees to replace those lost to drought and storms, or to grow up around new construction like UGA's Club Sports Complex on Milledge Avenue and a new building for the School of Pharmacy.
But because of Georgia's long drought, officials have held off on replacing many of the lost trees, Adams said.
The tree trust will donate about 300 large trees to the campus over the next decade - relatively big trees with trunk diameters between 4 inches and 6 inches and 15 feet to 25 feet tall.
Trees that big are expensive, Adams said.
"They're making a gift that we will benefit greatly from," he said. "We're talking about long-lived trees that will be here long past when we're gone."
The trust, established by Select Trees, a Bishop-based grower of shade trees, also announced earlier this year that it would donate $1 million in tre
© 2009 http://onlineathens.com - Athens Banner-Herald - All rights reserved.
Comment on "Tree trust donation has got the university covered"
