Sheila Alldredge
January 22, 2008
Lillie Reed
January 24, 2008Apache Foundation has donated a ton of trees to be given away to Houma residents for planting during the cooler weather.
Apache Corporation is a large oil and gas exploration and production company. It has partnered with the Terrebonne Parish Tree Board for a scheduled tree give-away from 10 a.m. to noon at the Terrebonne Parish Main Library in Houma on Jan. 26.
Residents will have their choice of magnolias, cypress trees, oaks, green and crape myrtles. The trees will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis, said area Tree Board secretary Ellen Doskey.
There is a limit of five trees per household. Each family is asked to sign a contract promising to plant the trees in Terrebonne Parish, and to properly care for them and not resell them, Doskey said.
“We want to educate the public on the real value of trees,” Board President Sybil Guidry said. “Not just the historic or beautification, but for the environmental reasons because trees serve as multitaskers.”
“Trees are an effective way to better our communities by reducing sound, producing oxygen, storing carbon, providing shade, reducing erosion and increasing property values,” Apache Louisiana Minerals General Manager Timothy Allen said.
The Tree Board was established through a parish ordinance in 2005 for the beautification of Terrebonne Parish. The organization consists of five voting members: Doskey, Guidry, LSU AgCenter member Barton Joffrion, Ellen Hebert and Joann Kilpatrick. Terrebonne Parish government representative David Luke is a non-voting member.
In 2007, the group members and volunteers planted 800 trees in the lowland reservoir areas for wildlife habitats, and in Montegut as windbreak protectors for hurricane season, said Guidry.
Apache made a pledge to plant one million trees across the nation, with an emphasis in Louisiana because the company owns nearly 270,000 acres of wetland in south Louisiana.
“With Apache’s generous support, this will be Terrebonne Parish’s largest Arbor Day celebration ever,” Guidry said. “We see so many of the historic trees coming down in Terrebonne Parish due to development and commercial progress and we want to do our part in restoring the trees in the area.”
National Arbor Day, founded in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska, is traditionally celebrated in April. However, Louisiana celebrates it twice a year.
Communities throughout the state are celebrating Arbor Day differently. On Friday, Jan. 18, the Louisiana Urban Forestry Council celebrated Arbor Day. The group planted trees in parks and other public properties in southeast Louisiana.
“Arbor Day is an opportune time for all Louisiana citizens to educate themselves on the benefits of trees and to plant a tree themselves, provided it is ‘the right tree in the right place,'” Joe Baucum, LUFC president said.
“Tree planting is critical to our state’s urban forest as we recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, especially now that two-and-half-years have elapsed since their landfalls,” said LUFC Executive Director Michael Knobloch. “In many locations throughout the devastated areas, communities have begun to plant trees, and we salute them.”
Knobloch recommends that people consult with experts, such as landscapers, arborists, local “green groups,” local extension service representatives and LSU AgCenter personnel for more information.
Baucum encourages residents to visit the LUFC Web site www.louisianaurbanforestry.org. The site has a list of additional information about the LUFC and similar organizations.
“It is important to the well-being of our posterity that we, who are the trustees of this planet, take it upon ourselves as our responsibility to improve our environment by increasing the number of trees, one community at a time,” Baucum said.
