{"id":4357,"date":"2014-02-20T10:58:54","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T16:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/treefolkstest.wpengine.com\/?p=4357"},"modified":"2014-02-20T10:58:54","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T16:58:54","slug":"4357","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.treefolks.org\/es\/2014\/02\/20\/4357\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday’s tree giveaway for Bastrop County residents moved 15,700 trees in 90 minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jim<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Carly<\/a>By Terry Hagerty,\u00a0Austin Community Newspapers Staff<\/p>\n

The event was billed as \u201cFree trees for Bastrop County\u201d and area residents didn\u2019t waste any time taking advantage of the offering at Mayfest Park on Feb. 15.<\/p>\n

Slated for approximately four hours \u2013 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. \u2013 the free 14,000 trees being given away by TreeFolks and supporting groups were gone in less than an hour and a half.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome, we gave away 2,000 hardwood trees and 12,000 loblolly pines \u2013 they\u2019re all gone,\u201d said Jason Alfaro, the city of Bastrop\u2019s parks superintendent, as he stood next to the now-empty distribution area behind American Legion Post 533.<\/p>\n

The event was to help in the recovery of the Bastrop area\u2019s famed Lost Pines after the 2011 Bastrop County Complex Fire. But some area residents, who said they were fortunate not to have been hit by the wildfires, were also welcome to come help Mother Nature bounce back \u2013 and they did.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a nice way to replenish the environment and have a proactive response\u201d by people affected by the fires, said Dawn Dickerson-Sankofa as she loaded up her vehicle with some loblolly pines.
\nShe added her husband had been busy clearing drought-ravaged trees from their property, which was not swept by the 2011 fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s cutting down trees to create a fire barrier,\u201d Dickerson-Sankofa said. Even the youngsters were getting in on the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really cool to get free trees,\u201d said Angel Benda, 9, a Red Rock Elementary School student who was helping her grandparents load up a few seedlings. \u201cThese trees will help build back our shade and help the forest animals to come back, so this whole place can come back to life!\u201d<\/p>\n

Carly Blankenship, acting executive director with TreeFolks, said a change in the distribution method for free trees this year likely helped speed the giveaway process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe allowed people to park their cars and walk up, versus last year\u2019s drive-up process,\u201d Blankenship said. \u201cWe had 50 volunteers, too. This is a five-year program \u2026 of reforestation efforts after the fire. Our goal is to distribute 2 million trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

TreeFolks also gave kudos to several organizations for helping support the event, including the Arbor Day Foundation, American Forests, Texas A&M Forest Service and the Alcoa Foundation.<\/p>\n

Read the story at the Statesman here: http:\/\/www.statesman.com\/news\/news\/local\/bastrop-county-gone-in-no-time\/ndTBx\/<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Terry Hagerty,\u00a0Austin Community Newspapers Staff The event was billed as \u201cFree trees for Bastrop County\u201d and area residents didn\u2019t waste any time taking advantage of the offering at Mayfest…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,60,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-bastrop-county-reforestation","category-reforestation","category-in-the-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t