Trees Forever Team Up With Girl Scouts To Plant Some Shade
Oskaloosa Girl Scouts help plant trees at the Oskaloosa City Square on Saturday.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Summertime under a shade tree in the park, listening to the band.That’s a bit of heaven for many people in Oskaloosa.
Oskaloosa Trees Forever received financial assistance from Cablevey, along with some help from the Oskaloosa Girl Scouts in planting the trees in the Oskaloosa City Square and Edmundson Park on Saturday morning.
The Emerald Ash Borer beetle has been finding its way into Iowa, so plans are being put into place to help provide residents with a shady summer for years to come. Ash trees may go the way of elm trees in Iowa, from when the destructive Dutch Elm disease caused cities and people to cut the massive trees down in mass. The full impact of the emerald ash borer beetle could be a decade in the making.
Trees Forever hopes to be able to plant a tree for every tree that is taken down because of the beetle. The plan is to plant several different varieties of trees so that one disease doesn’t cause significant damage to the tree population.
Craig Coen with Oskaloosa Trees Forever, along with the assistance of local Girls Scouts, planted 12 trees on Saturday. The group averages 200 tree plantings a year.
Besides the tree planting on Saturday, other Oskaloosa Trees Forever members were handing out tree saplings at the MCG eCycle event. On Friday, the group handed out saplings to the OES 2nd grade class. There students had a choice of Lilac, Sugar Maple or Red Oak to plant for themselves.
