DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources plans to plan over 69,000 new trees on forest land this year.
The Arbor Day Foundation recently partnered and through its members provided funding to the DNR’s Forestry Bureau to plant 69,600 trees on Iowa’s State Forest Land in 2016. Bare root tree seedlings will be planted by hand and by machine to reforest and improve diversity on 170 acres of Iowa public forest land.
“The mission of the Arbor Day Foundation is to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees,” says Jeff Goerndt, DNR State Forest Section Chief. “We are grateful for their partnership and support to help us achieve our goals for reforestation on our state forests.”
A portion of the Arbor Day Foundation’s programming focuses on large-scale tree plantings that will positively impact the environment, create habitat for wildlife and promote watershed restoration in our nation’s forests. This year, the Arbor Day Foundation has emphasized watershed restoration projects.
Since 2008, the Arbor Day Foundation has worked directly with the National Association of State Foresters to identify and support reforestation projects throughout the United States. Since the beginning of this reforestation partnership, the Arbor Day Foundation has worked together with state partners to fund and plant more than 19 million trees.
