Hundreds of people are expected to help plant trees this weekend for the 18th Reforest the Bluegrass. Lexington Natural Resources Program Manager John Saylor says 7,000 seedlings are ready to be planted near Interstate 75 in the Deep Springs Greenway. “It flushes chemicals and stuff into our creeks and streams and our waterways and so trees are our little bio-filters, they’re gonna capture a lot of that for us,” said Saylor.
Over the last 17 years, Saylor says Reforest the Bluegrass events have helped to produce a number of micro-forests in the Lexington area. The tree canopy in Lexington covers about 25 percent. Saylor says the goal is 40 percent. “Lexington-Fayette County wasn’t heavily treed to begin with, it was more of a grasslands savannah,” Saylor said. “We had some woodland pastures.”
Saylor says some 20 species of trees including oaks, sycamores, and maples will be planted Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. just off Bryan Station Road. ?
