Volunteers from around Northern Kentucky are planting a forest on a long-forgotten fill site off I-275 in Fort Thomas.
“Reforest NKY” is an annual program by the Northern Kentucky Urban and Community Forestry Council that reforests areas of Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. They are responsible for planting thousands of seedlings around public, protected and previously mowed areas.
This year, the council has joined forces with the Fort Thomas Forest Conservancy to plant 150 trees on a fill site owned by the conservancy. The fill site was created from the excavation done back in 1975 to create the highway, and was long considered “worthless and a liability,” according to Nan Genther, president of the conservancy.
“But we always kind of had in the back of our mind that we might be able to create something beautiful there,” Genther said.
Genther first approached the forestry council last year, during an Earth Day celebration. Since then, the two organizations have strategized how to best reforest the land.
The forestry council was able to land a $5,000 grant from Duke Energy for the project. Forestry council president Liz Fet said the program relies on grants and partnerships to survive. Receiving the grant from Duke Energy was critical.
“Sometimes it's just a bit of luck and everything comes together,” Fet said.
Genther said it didn’t take much to prep the land for reforesting. In fact, the property started generating its own cedar trees — a sign that nature was reclaiming the land.
“It just wasn't considered valuable or like it had much potential for this kind of growth,” Genther said. “But cedar trees are an indicator that something good's happening on the land.”
Genther said they are planting adaptable species familiar to the area: bur oak, butternut hickory and Kentucky coffee trees.
“We just chose trees that we thought would be able to survive there,” Genther said.
Genther and Fet both said they hope people see the value in the long-term health benefits to reforesting — and trees in general.
Fet referenced a pioneer study by the University of Louisville's Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute that found ties between neighborhood greening and human health.
“Everyone always says trees reduce stress, but they're actually quantifying it now,” Fet said. “So you can see the different levels of the blood work and things like that.”
Reforesting efforts now are an investment in the future — a future that will take years to flourish.
“There's a quote about planting trees that you'll never sit under the shade of,” Genther said. And that's kind of what's happening with this.”
The annual planting event is Saturday, March 14. Registration to volunteer is now full. To find more volunteering opportunities, visit the forestry council’s website.
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