(Cedar Rapids, IA) -- The City of Cedar Rapids continues it's efforts to recover from last year's derecho, which wiped out more than 60-percent of the tree canopy. Rachel Murtough is Cedar Rapids' Releaf Manger and says their motto is the right tree, in the right place, in the right time. She says by that they hope to plant replacement trees based on a multi-layered strategy. She says some of the factors include how much tree damage a neighborhood had, but also whether a neighborhood had a tree deficit in the first place. She says they're also looking at appropriate species and length of growing time and CDC heat affect data.
Murtough says another factor is city staffing because each tree planted will require extra attention during the first two years of growth. She says it's a process that requires careful planning, noting you can't just plant a bunch of trees all at once. Last year the city planted about 1,000 trees, Murtough says the same number will likely be planted by the end of this year as well.
Cedar Rapids lost an estimated 7 million trees in the storm August 10th, 2020.