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The Alabama Forestry Commission has awarded the City of Brewton a $100,000 grant to fund tree planting at five locations in the city over the next year, city officials said last week.

“We are excited to add to our tree canopy with a project, ‘The Place to Grow: Reforestation,’ that will help us in the ongoing recovery from storm damage going back decades,” Mayor Yank Lovelace said. “We must plan and plant for the future of our community, and adding trees will be an ongoing priority.”

Director of Program Management Connie Baggett applied for the funding last month, and got word in recent days about the award.

“With the loss of so many trees going back to Ivan and in the recent violent storm events we are seeing all too often, the need is urgent to replant native trees that can help us fight higher temperatures,” Baggett said.

The plan, which will begin in coming months, provides for shade trees along routes children use walking to school along Evergreen Avenue, play areas in Alco Park, and along St. Nicholas Avenue on city property. Food forest trees will be planted in Alco Park, at John L. Fisher Center and at E.O. Wilson Nature Adventure.