MILTON — Santa Rosa County has been selected to receive a $16,500 competitive Urban and Community Forestry Grant from the Florida Forest Service.
The funding will be used to plant and establish 151 native trees at Bagdad Mill Site Park as part of a community tree demonstration and education project. Grant funds will be supplemented with in-kind resources and $6,000 from the county's tree mitigation fund.
The project, to begin later this year, includes planting several species of trees, all native to the area and with higher levels of wind resistance. Among species chosen for planting will be longleaf, slash and loblolly pines, which share a historical connection to the park's former use as a southern pine lumber mill.
Santa Rosa has partnered with the Bagdad Waterfronts Florida Partnership, The Longleaf Alliance, Santa Rosa District Schools, and UF/IFAS Extension programs to assist in the project’s implementation and to promote an active urban forestry program in the community.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Bagdad Mill Site Park to receive 151 trees