REFOREST THE BLUEGRASS
The Reforest The Bluegrass program was started in March of 1999. It is a cooperative
effort between the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s Water Quality, Urban Forestry,
and Parks & Recreation management programs. Its purpose is to recreate pre-settlement,
streamside forests that were once native to the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Today,
through the efforts of thousands of volunteers, Lexington is progressively restoring those
long-lost benefits of streamside forests (riparian buffers) for generations to come. This is a
crucial step to protecting our valuable water resources and enhancing our living standards.
Reforest The Bluegrass (RTB) uses beneficial qualities of native species of trees to
bring natural balance to our ecosystems. Some of the benefits include:
- filtering of pollutants from our environment, which provides cleaner drinking water resources
- shading streams, which keeps temperatures down, dissolved oxygen concentrations up, and minimizes nuisance algal growth (algae-choked creeks result in “fish kills”)
- stabilization of our creek banks from the trees’ expansive root systems
- slowing of flood waters, which are caused by the increased number of impervious surfaces
- cooling of the city, which reduces the “Urban Heat Island Effect”
- wildlife habitat
- and healthy streams that perform as mosquito control
Reforest The Bluegrass is an ecological restoration program specifically designed to maximize public participation. It truly empowers all citizens to play an active roll in the conservation of our natural resources today and the preservation of our environment for the future. To date, RTB’s accomplishments include:
- More than 150 acres of floodplains restored
- More than 5,000 volunteers involved
- Over 130,000 tree seedlings planted
- Around 75% first-year survival rates
- Less than $105,000 of local government funds spent
- Over $75,000 private funds raised
- If projects were contracted out, it could have cost: $750,000!!!!
The LFUCG and the Reforest The Bluegrass Coordinating Committee wish to thank our generous sponsors and partners for their time and monetary assistance in making our program the success that it is. The RTB 2005 Friends of the Forest (organizations or businesses which contributed $5,000 or more in cash, goods and services, or in-kind services) included: Kentucky American Water Company, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and LexMark International. The RTB 2005 Partners included: Bluegrass PRIDE, Boy Scouts of America, Fayette County Conservation District, Great Harvest Bread Company, Kentucky Division of Forestry, Kentucky Utilities, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, The Kroger Company, Lexington Coffee & Tea Company, McDonald’s Company, Papania’s Inc., University of Kentucky Department of Forestry, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, and The Lexington Chapter of the Wild Ones.
Reach the Urban Forestry Program staff at 258-3451, or
by e-mail.
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