City wants your help in buying trees

On Earth Day Monday, officials planted a tree in a Downtown park and asked people to contribute money to plant many of them on public property citywide.

JE Dunn Construction will match up to the first $10,000 donated. The ceremony was in Ilus Davis Park just next to the Dunn construction headquarters.

For the first time this year, Dunn made the offer as part of Bridging the Gap’s Heartland Tree Alliance Program.

Kevin Lapointe, Kansas City forester, said, “If everybody helps a little bit a lot can get done.”

About 20 months of draught took its toll on the city’s trees, he said, and the recent snows and rain are not enough to save many of them.

The city has about 400,000 trees on public land and in a normal year loses about 4,000. The number lost is likely to be twice that this year, he said.

The cost of planting replacements can be less than a dollar for a seedling to up to $300 for a young tree, officials said.

Money can be donated at www.TreesForMyCity.com, which also has more information on the program.

 

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