Help the state; plant a tree

The Madison (Ind.) Courier: It’s not unusual to hear pleas for money to help plant trees in developing nations. But now the State of Indiana is making a similar request - one that we should accept.

A state agency is seeking donations of $10 and up toward planting 1 million hardwood trees and adding 1,000 acres of new woodlands by Indiana’s bicentennial as a state in 2016.

The Indiana Tree Project is organized by the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation and the state Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry.

Each $10 donation covers the cost of planting and maintaining a hardwood sapling and replanting that tree if it is cut down once it has matured.

A donation of $2,500 will buy a quarter-acre of trees, while $10,000 will pay for a full acre.

We all enjoy trips to Indiana’s forest areas - from state parks to open expanses of undeveloped wildlife. But like most things in nature, those forest areas can be at risk, and it’s up to us to help preserve them.

“Families and organizations that love and use Indiana’s forests can play a part in helping preserve them for generations to come,” said Bourke Patton, executive director of the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation.

A nice feature of the project is that donors will be able to track the progress of donated trees through satellite images. That’s a nice project for families and schools to undertake.