Black Forest Together’s tree donor and recipient program is in the works. Bill Mantia, board vice president of BFT and coordinator of the program, is collecting a list of people who want trees to replace those they lost in the Black Forest fire.ìWe’re trying to identify donors ó people with accessible terrain, which is level,î Mantia said.Tree sales would help fund the project, he said. ìWe would try to sell the larger trees commercially to support the donor program for the smaller trees,î Mantia said. ìThe goal is to set cost as low as we can.îCurrently, Mantia is searching for equipment and operators to relocate the trees, and is applying for grants to cover the costs involved in moving the trees. According to Mantia’s outline for the program, the ìdifference between funds received from the sale of commercial trees and the cost of transplant and transportation is borne by Recipient and BFT. The objective is to attain lowest or no cost to Recipient.îMantia said donors also benefit from the program. ìIt helps them to mitigate their own property; they are donating to someone in need, and donors can get a tax credit from donated trees,î he said.Anyone interested in receiving trees or donating trees (or services for moving the trees) should contact Black Forest Together. Visit the website at http://blackforesttogether.org.
