City Awarded Grant to Plant Trees on West Third Street

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2011

For more information contact
Lee Huss, Urban Forester, City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, (812) 349-3719 or [hussl@bloomington.in.gov|mailto:hussl@bloomington.in.gov]

Bloomington, IN - The City of Bloomingotn Parks and Recreation Department has received a grant for $9,375 from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry to plant trees along West Third Street.

According to urban forester Lee Huss, approximately 150 trees are scheduled to be planted on Third Street between Landmark Avenue and Franklin Road this fall after the Third Street widening project is complete. The new trees will replace about 20 trees that had to be removed from rights-of-way to make room for the street project.

"We identified the West Third Street area as one that was lacking in street trees," Huss said. We've worked closely with the Engineering Division to develop landscaping areas in the medians as well as plots along West Third, and we've identified some native tree species that will fit well in the spaces that will be available."

The grant requires the Parks and Recreation Department to match the funds awarded. The matching funds will come from monies already budgeted for tree planting and landscaping along West Third Street.

"An important part of Bloomington's character and commerce is its livability, so we appreciate the DNR's support in adding to our urban forest," said Mayor Mark Kruzan.

According to Pam Louks, community and urban forestry coordinator with the DNR Division of Forestry, Bloomington's grant application ranked high due to excellent performance on past grants, and because Bloomington has a complete inventory of public tres as well as a functional analysis of the benefits provided by those trees.

For more information about Bloomington's street trees and its urban forestry program, visit the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department's urban forestry Web site at [bloomington.in.gov/treecare|Street Trees and Landscaping].

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