Programs Provide Free Trees to Family Forest Landowners

Nashville – The Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry is accepting applications for the Trees for Tennessee and Play. Plant. Preserve. tree seedling programs. The programs provide family forest landowners with free seedlings for forest sustainability and restoration. 

Trees for Tennessee is an initiative aimed at increasing pine regeneration on recently harvested land or fallow fields. Sponsored by Huber Engineered Woods LLC, the goal of the program is to establish 250,000 pine seedlings every year throughout the greater Tennessee Valley and Cumberland Plateau regions. 

ProMark’s Play. Plant. Preserve. program works to ensure that the hardwood resources used for making drumsticks and mallets in Tennessee are sustainable. The program provides 75,000 hardwood seedlings for planting statewide on family forestland to restore existing forests and raise new ones. 

“We appreciate Huber Engineered Woods and ProMark for their commitment to Tennessee’s conservation efforts,” State Forester David Arnold said. “We encourage our forest landowners to take advantage of this opportunity to increase the productivity of their forest resources.” 

To be eligible for the programs, landowners must have a reforestation prescription plan prepared by a professional forester and plant a minimum number of trees. Quantities are limited, so participants should place orders as soon as possible. 

Seedlings used for both programs are grown at the Division of Forestry’s East Tennessee Nursery located in Delano, Tenn. The companies who sponsor the programs cover the purchase cost. Professional tree planting vendor costs are not covered through either program. However, the landowner may plant their own trees. 

For more information about the programs, eligibility requirements, and online seedling sales, please visit http://planttntrees.org/ or contact your local area forester through our website.