The Tifton Tift County Tree Board recently received a $20,000 Urban and Community Forestry Grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission.

According to Bert Crowe, who coordinates the tree board, the money will be used to hire an outside specialty agency to inventory trees on right of ways and public property in the city and the county. The company who conducts the inventory will be chosen through a bidding process.

Crowe said that the process will involve counting, identifying and recording trees in the community. The inventory will include the size, species, location and overall health of the trees in the community’s “urban forest.”

“Trees are an asset to our community in many ways,” Crowe said. “They provide shade, good air quality, beauty and habitat for food for wildlife.

“There are many other important purposes, however, the greatest to me is the ability we have to leave something of value to future generations.

The monitoring portion of the program is important, Crowe said, because it ensures healthy trees for the future.

“It will allow us to identify possible disease or insect problems in our trees,” Crowe said. “It will also allow us the opportunity to note trees that are damaged, need pruning or eventually be removed.”

Another important part of the monitoring process, Crowe said, is to plot areas where new or replacement trees need to be planted in the future.

To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.