Dozens of trees recently were planted along Route 66 in Upland, California, as living tributes to military veterans.
The trees were planted along Upland’s Memorial Park on Foothill Boulevard (aka Route 66) in late April.
According to The Daily Bulletin:
Volunteers and city officials helped plant 79 trees in the park April 21, as part of the Route 66 Veterans Memorial Corridor project, which aims to plant 3,200 trees along the iconic 400-mile route from Upland to Needles.
The project, funded through state cap and trade money, is being led by the Upland-based nonprofit agency, Incredible Edible Community Garden.
Each tree is marked with a dog tag that includes the veteran’s name, branch and years of service and GPS coordinates. A duplicate tag is given to the veterans or their families.
The program is open to past, present, living or deceased, retired, reserve and active duty military personnel of all wars and conflicts as well as peacetime duty. […]
The project is funded by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection through the California Climate Investments Program, a statewide initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve public health, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
The group began the tree-planting project in October in Barstow, another Route 66 town in Southern California. Since then, trees for veterans have been planted along the Route 66 corridor in Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino and Fontana.
The group initially announced it wanted to plant 3,200 trees in tributes to veterans; it hopes to finish the project by 2020, if funds allow.
More tree-plantings are planned in Victorville, plus 30 more in Upland.
In case you’re wondering about how well the trees are expected to grow in semi-arid conditions, an official for Edible Community Garden said their mortality rate is just 1 percent.
(Images from the tree plantings in Upland, California, by Jose Louie Mendoza via Flickr)