A group of volunteers in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties—where thousands of trees were lost during the 2011 wildfires—are hoping to kickstart a recovery effort by giving away 1,000 trees. The group—known as Texas ReLeaf—formed after John Warner, a local member of the Texas Forest Service, applied for a $25,000 grant from Anheuser-Busch.
"I wrote them a letter asking if they would be willing to help fund the replacement of some of the trees lost in our area, and they agreed," Warner said. "Usually their donations are in the Greater Houston area, so it's kind of exciting that they are doing something like this out here."
The money will be used to purchase somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 trees, the bulk of which will be given to homeowners who lost trees during the fires. The scope of the ReLeaf project includes the tri-county fire area, as well as the area to the west in Grimes County where the Dyer Mill fire took place.
Residents living within the vicinity of the fires will have the opportunity to pick up a 10-gallon tree from one of ReLeaf's three pick-up locations. They will also receive an ooze tube, which helps keep the tree hydrated, and a tree guard for support, all courtesy of Anheuser-Busch.
A major part of ReLeaf's mission is educating the public on how to care for trees on their property. Upon picking up a tree, participants in the program will also receive instruction from an expert on how to plant and care for it. Master gardeners, arborists and foresters will work on a volunteer basis with the educational side of ReLeaf.
Another way ReLeaf plans to educate is through public plantings. Roughly 10 percent of the trees will be reserved for community locations, such as libraries and school yards, Warner said.
Public plantings will give communities a chance to drum up awareness and take ownership of their own replanting efforts, Warner said. The City of Magnolia has expressed interest in hosting a planting at Unity Park, but details have not been established.
Members of Keep Montgomery County Beautiful—a nonprofit dedicated to beautification throughout the county—will help with community efforts to educate and get people involved.
"Planting trees is in line with the overall mission of KMCB," said Phyllis Steger, a KMCB member in the Magnolia area. "Trees are still falling back here. We just want to get some more trees back into the community."
Warner said he hopes ReLeaf can become something that reoccurs on a yearly basis. The project is intended to motivate city officials and community members to make further efforts into tree replanting on their own.
"It's not a reforestation program," Warner said. "Anheuser-Busch starts it, but the communities keep it going. What we really want is to see them run with it, so it turns into an every year thing."
