Funded by a California ReLeaf Grant to Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture
Next up in the ongoing tree planting project locations in South Yuba County is Yuba College. On Saturday October 29 at 9am, volunteers from SayLove and Yuba-Sutter Rotary Night Club, will meet up with Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture staff and board members to plant 27 trees around the west parking lot on the college campus. Species of trees to be planted include crape myrtle, pinon pine, live oak, sycamore, valley oak and Oregon ash among others. The public including other service clubs are invited to come out to help. Lunch will be provided.
How did this all come to be? Proposition 68 was passed by California voters in 2018. It created Restoration Grant Programs to improve a community’s ability to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and natural disasters like floods and fires and to help enhance drought tolerance, landscape resilience, and water retention, restore habitat, and create recreational opportunities. California ReLeaf, a lead agency for the project and CAL FIRE’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, have been giving Prop 68 funded grants to local nonprofits to plant trees to help reduce greenhouse gasses.
The grant is funding collaborative projects with Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture as the local lead. The designated locations are primarily in and around Olivehurst due to its designation as a reforestation disaster relief zone. So, where’s the art in all of this and why is Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture the lead? The grant comes along with a mandate to not only plant trees, but to also provide an educational component. Each site that receives trees will also receive a custom environment themed pop-up mural. Each mural will be unique and will be designed by artists or art students. The murals will also have a smart phone accessible QR code which will enable access to an educational video with a message about trees and their importance to the environment.
“We decided to undertake this project to again demonstrate our spirit of collaboration with so many groups in the community,” said David Read, Executive Director. “We are proud of all we have achieved and work hard every day to demonstrate how our creative and cultural community is an essential part of economic development for the region,” he added.
California ReLeaf works statewide to promote alliances among community-based groups, individuals, industry, and government agencies, encouraging each to contribute to the livability of our cities and towns and to protect our environment by planting and caring for trees.