Nearly one million of the trees felled in the 2020 derecho were in Linn County alone, and the damage left rural and urban communities alike with gaping holes in their tree canopies. Five years later, The Gazette is revisiting what’s been done to fill the gaps.
The donation from QTS, which is building a data center in Cedar Rapids, will support derecho recovery efforts through tree plantings on private property.
Volunteers planted 40 trees Friday at Prairiewoods Fransiscan Spirituality Center in Hiawatha through a partnership with Trees Forever and the City of Cedar Rapids. Prairiewoods lost 1,200 trees in the August 2020 derecho and has since planted 1,000 trees and shrubs.
After Linn County lost an estimated 1 million trees in the 2020 derecho, Monarch Research Project of Marion made it its mission to rebuild. The nonprofit has planted 100,000 native trees in Linn County. Monarch Research Project wants to double that total in the next five years.
Residents of Cedar Rapids and small businesses will soon be asked to pitch in to “Grow the Love” and get the city’s $37 million fundraising effort across the finish line to replenish the tree canopy lost in the 2020 derecho.
Next few months of rainfall will determine how well trees can recover from dry conditions
In an effort to expand equitable access to nature nationwide, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack came to Cedar Rapids Thursday to announce $6 million toward Cedar Rapids’ effort to reforest the city after the 2020 derecho. The city is among 385 recipients of $1.1 billion toward tree planting.
The Marion-based not-for-profit announced it will kickoff the sixth season of its native tree sale, on Aug. 7, with multiple sizes now available. The program enables landowners with more than three woodland acres to purchase anywhere from five to 150 native trees, in an effort to restore Linn County’s native tree canopy.
The city of Cedar Rapids invites people to volunteer to become “Tree Buds” as part of ReLeaf Cedar Rapids. These volunteers can help water trees recently planted in city rights of way.
ReLeaf Cedar Rapids, the plan to replenish the tree canopy Cedar Rapids lost in the 2020 derecho, was recognized last week with Congress for the New Urbanism’s 2023 Charter Award.
The $60,000 plan will be finalized over the next year and will take 10 years to implement.
In partnership with local nonprofit Trees Forever, the city of Cedar Rapids is offering a low-cost tree adoption for Cedar Rapids residents. Here’s how to get yours.
Trees Forever is teaming up with five local nurseries to offer $100 or $250 tree vouchers for eligible Cedar Rapids residents. Here’s how you can qualify for a voucher.
Nonprofit Trees Forever this year piloted Neighborhood Tree Captains and tree voucher programs to empower residents to replant on their private properties. These programs were developed as part of the ReLeaf effort to reforest Cedar Rapids after the derecho.
Seedlings planted in in gravel beds June as a pilot project were recently planted in Bever Park, the first city park where the seedlings were planted. These seedlings offer an additional source of tree stock for parks as Cedar Rapids works to replant about 42,000 trees on public land after the derecho.
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