As people travel through the avenues they can still see a lot of damage and construction. The tornado hit Jacksonville five months ago and people are still recovering, houses are being rebuilt, and debris is still being placed on the curb.
The avenues are different in other ways as well. There is something missing, something that once was taken for granted, it is the unspoken victims of the storm, they are the trees. Hundreds of old growth trees, both hardwood and pines, were leveled or split in half in less than 10 minutes.
Long time Jacksonville resident Sherry Blanton has spent a lot of time walking through the avenues and quickly realized that the damage to the trees was catastrophic. “It changed the landscape and people were getting lost in area’s they knew”, Blanton stated. So she started working on a project that developed into Retree Jacksonville, Alabama. She partnered with Hayes Jackson, Regional Extension Agent Alabama A&M University, and Truman Norred, Councilman of the Jacksonville Tree Commission, to create a local outreach to replant trees in the effected storm areas.
Sponsored by the Jacksonville Tree Commission and the City of Jacksonville, they decided to hold their first meeting in April to discuss how the project would proceed. One of the first decisions was to plant 800 trees so they could begin to grow and be ready for transplanting later in the Fall.
The trees are expected to be available around October 12, the time to transplant trees, and will be given away to anyone in the tornado effected area. These trees are to be used only for the areas that were damaged by the storm and not just as part of a beautification project. The arbor day tree give away will still happen sometime in April and will be available to anyone in the city limits.
The trees to be given away will not be seedlings or “open roots” but will rather, be in 2-3 gallon pots. They will need to be transported delicately as the new trees are fragile if tossed about.
If you would like to learn more about the Retree Jacksonville group please go to their Facebook page. The people on the committee will keep the residents of Jacksonville up to date on current activities and release dates.
