Planting Mini Forests Along Roads and Highways
We had our first tree planting in San Marcos in December 2020 with the San Marcos River Foundation. Scenic Texas partnered with San Marcos River Foundation and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for its inaugural tree planting. See the article in San Marcos Daily Record here.
999,890 Trees to Go
Background
Scenic Texas member Bill Brock wants to leave a legacy. He came to Scenic Texas wanting to plant 1 million trees across Texas along roadways, much like he did in his youth in the Peace Corp in Guatemala. Currently, we are creating the plan to accomplish this big project and identify the areas most in need. Because we work with the TxDOT’s Green Ribbon Program, we know millions of trees and shrubs have been planted in Texas for attainment. The Green Ribbon Program was created to improve air quality for high traffic, urban areas with new road construction projects. However, there are areas of Texas that do not have the Green Ribbon Program and are in need of native landscaping and tree planting.
If you are interested in contributing to this program or volunteering for the day for a future planting, please contact Sarah Tober.
“I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.” | From the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer
Resources
City of Austin | Urban Forest Planning
Pocket | Fast-Growing Mini-Forests Spring up in Europe to Aid Climate
BBC | Climate change: China’s forest carbon uptake ‘underestimated’
TREES
by Barbara Brock
Look up, Look up
What do I see?
I see beauty, great gulps of beauty
Surrounding me.
A walk in the park beneath thy bows
Of ever-spreading limbs,
Sparks the creativity beneath my brow
Bringing artful thoughts to the brim.
Ever spark the green, green trees,
Never failing to beautify the sight in my eye.
Bending to the soft sound of the wind, gently
Swaying and tingling in the ground they lie.
The calm fortitude when surrounded
By the majestic of mighty oaks,
Never failing to believe that strength
Is derived from these grand old folks.
EurekAlert | The biggest trees capture the most carbon: Large trees dominate carbon storage in forests