20 more trees in the ground at Ackley Creek Park
Crew members fill buckets with mulch to pile around newly planted trees Saturday at Ackley Creek Park. Press photo by Bob Steenson
Kate Sears, age 4, the daughter of Floyd County Conservation Director Adam Sears, along with LaRae Frerichs, Adam Sears' mother, gather up fallen sticks at Ackley Creek Park Saturday. Press photo by Bob Steenson
Charles City Mayor Dean Andrews helps pile mulch around newly planted trees Saturday at Ackley Creek Park. Press photo by Bob Steenson
Kate Sears, age 4, and Drew Sears, age 7, the daughter and son of Floyd County Conservation Director Adam Sears, along with LaRae Frerichs, Adam Sears' mother, gather up fallen sticks at Ackley Creek Park Saturday. Press photo by Bob Steenson
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com
Floyd County Conservation staff and a crew of volunteers planted 20 trees at the Ackley Creek Park near Marble Rock Saturday morning.
It is one of a series of tree-planting events throughout the county by the conservation department working with Trees Forever, an Iowa-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping people and groups plant trees and take care of trees, prairie and other natural areas.
Adam Sears, director of Floyd County Conservation, said the group gathered Saturday had intended to plant 32 trees, but nurseries have been slow in making stock available because of the extended winter weather this year. The rest of the trees are expected to arrive this week.
The Saturday project included a crew from Valero Renewables, members of the Izaak Walton League and other volunteers including Charles City Mayor Dean Andrews. Four county conservation staff — Adams, Heidi Reams, Tyron Steere and Tyler Walters — were also helping out.
Sears said hackberries, red oak, bur oak and swamp white oak trees were planted Saturday.
The conservation department expanded the Ackley Creek Park last summer to add nine more camping pads, and planting the trees is a follow-up to provide the camping area with shade, Sears said.
Trees are being planted as part of a $5,000 Branching Out Grant from Trees Forever.
Meredith Borchardt, northeast Iowa field coordinator with Trees Forever, said the organization looks for grant applications that include native species of trees, volunteer labor and getting people involved and working outside.
“We like to get any age, but especially kids involved,” Borchardt said.
Borchardt said a lot of communities and parks will be losing parts of their tree canopies due to the emerald ash borer infestation, so Trees Forever is trying to get ahead of that by planting other native species of trees.
She said the group has worked with Floyd County Conservation on a lot of projects.
“They’re great partners,” she said.
Sears said his department “has made a real effort in the last couple of years to get trees in the ground.”
Other upcoming tree-planting projects include May 7 at the Fossil Prairie Park working with an agriculture class from the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock school; and May 24 at Rudd Lake Park and May 24 with a residential tree planting project in Rockford, both with RRMR High School seniors, Sears said.
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