Living Lands & Waters will host two tree-wrapping events for its Million Trees Project this weekend to support their annual campaign to plant native hardwood trees throughout the Mississippi River Watershed.
The work project will be at the East Moline Bus Garage, 2025 Morton Drive, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2.
Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) has a goal of distributing and planting more than 160,000 native trees in 2023. This year the group will have red oak, bur oak, swamp white oak and shagbark hickory bare root saplings.
The Quad Cities-based LL&W has distributed and planted more than 1.7 million trees through the Million Trees Project since its inception in 2007.
Each year, the LL&W crew partners with thousands of volunteers from local groups, schools, and families in the early spring to prepare and wrap the bare root saplings – providing a unique hands-on opportunity to participate in the program. The trees planted are all native hardwood trees and provide benefits like food for birds, shade for people, erosion control, and habitat for hundreds of native species across the region.
LL&W distributes trees to local schools, businesses, churches, individuals, and parks in the Quad Cities and across an average of 22 states throughout the Mississippi River Watershed annually. The organization also hosts volunteer events throughout the year at its tree nursery in Davenport.
“Many years ago, we set out to plant a million trees, I am proud to say that by the end of April we will have surpassed 1.9 million. That is a big number, and we truly cannot do it without the support of all of the awesome volunteers who come out,” said Chad Pregracke, founder and president of LL&W.
The LL&W crew asks that volunteers interested in participating this weekend sign up online here. The crew will provide music, snacks, and a fun atmosphere for volunteers.
More information about the MillionTrees Project and this event can be found here.
