Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Crane | Representatives from Kentucky National Guard and civilians with the Kentucky Division...... read more read more
GREENVILLE, Ky. -- In green initiative that blends military readiness with environmental stewardship, the Kentucky National Guard’s environmental team planted over 77,000 trees at its state training facility, Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center, in Greenville, Kentucky on March 14, 2024.
The Kentucky Army National Guard’s environmental staff partnered with Beam Suntory, Beam Vets Organization, RJ Reynolds, Kentucky Division of Forestry, the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) Office of Surface Mining-Reclamation and Enforcement, and the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources to plant 700 trees per acre over 110 acres on the training site.
Dave Jackson, an environmental protection specialist with the KYARNG, coordinated the project with the different partners to help benefit the state lands.
“By establishing these partnerships with these corporations and organizations, it was the only way to make this entire thing possible,” said Jackson. “Without they help, we couldn’t have even gotten this project off the ground.”
The purpose of the tree planting project, and the environmental protection staff, is to provide suitable and sustainable training lands for Soldiers. Planting more trees prevents harmful soil erosion and better water drainage abilities. They also soak up standing water to prevent swampy conditions and help control mosquitoes.
There are secondary benefits to the trees based on the diversity of trees planted.
“We planted 13 different species of trees,” Jackson said. “With this diversity, we are increasing the habitat and food foraging for different animal species that provide natural services to the training areas.”
The tree species includes white oak (40%) northern red oak, Kentucky coffee tree, pecan, persimmon, black locust, red oak, swamp chestnut oak, swamp white oak, loblolly pine, port leaf pine, chestnut oak, black walnut, and shagbark hickory.
Shagbark hickory, according to Jackson, is the prime habitat for an endangered species of bat – the northern long-eared bat. During the warmer months, the northern long-eared, and some other species of non-endangered bats, roosts under the slabs of bark that hang off the truck and main branches.
Providing roosting locations for bats, this can help reduce the population of mosquitoes that can carry disease and affect Soldier training.
Another added benefit for Soldiers, is that it gives more habitat for wild turkey, possums, and ground and tree birds that feed on ticks.
Historically, the soil and land at WHFRTC has not been in great quality due to the majority of the land being used for coal mining. The majority of the land has been disturbed and some coal mining operations do continue in remote areas of the training site.
The KYARNG environmental team has been working hard over the decades to improve the quality of the land and diversify the flora on the training land. Main methods use prescribed burns, planting native grasses, and planting trees.
“This is part of our good-neighbor policy,” said Jackson. “Environmentally, what we do on those 12,000 acres affects the surrounding communities. We are improving not just the training land, but the air and water quality in Muhlenberg County.
“This is about future generations of Soldiers and the people of the Muhlenberg County. I want a better place for my grandkids, this is one way to do that.”
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2024 08:19 |
| Story ID: | 469598 |
| Location: | GREENVILLE, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, KYNG environmental teams up with businesses to enhance Soldier training sites, by SFC Andrew Dickson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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