Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Healthy Forests Success Story

Rocky Mountain Region State and Private Forestry Gives Community Forestry Grant to Greensburg, Kansas
Rocky Mountain Region State and Private Forestry
2007

The F-5 tornado that hit Greensburg, Kansas, on May 4 destroyed over 95 percent of the community, including its trees. On July 13, Rocky Mountain Region State and Private Forestry awarded $25,000 to the Kansas Forest Service (KFS) to help the City of Greensburg restock its community forest.

The money will help buy trees and tree replacement supplies and place a Kansas State University (KSU) intern to work in Greensburg for three summers to help establish the replanted trees.

Kansas state and local authorities will match the funds to acquire more materials and labor and to ensure the project includes proper plant selection, planting, care, and maintenance as well as removal mitigation and pruning.

Tim McDonnell, KFS project manager and coordinator for the community replanting effort, views the grant as an anchor on which to build a national, regional, statewide, and local recovery effort working cooperatively for Greensburg.

McDonnell is working with multiple agencies and groups to secure more help with the undertaking.

Partners already on board are too numerous to mention. Donations range from volunteer labor from 4-H and other groups to discounted or free trees from nurseries to planning services from landscaping experts.

McDonnell said the Kansas Tree City USA (TCUSA) Communities are currently the largest state partner. Two such communities, Hutchinson and Marysville, have already raised $1,000 each for Greensburg, and several others have volunteered planting labor. Greensburg will plant a TCUSA Boulevard with the donated trees and labor, and the National Arbor Day Foundation plans to provide signage.

Not all contributors are from Kansas. For example, North Carolina’s Hear Our Public Employees (HOPE) Coalition has offered to grow 200 seedlings of Greensburg’s choice.

Before the tornado, Greensburg had about a 25 percent tree canopy cover, close to the national average. The community has a goal to obtain a 40 percent canopy. McDonnell estimates approximately 5,700 trees need replacement.

Most of the trees in the tornado’s core area that was 1.6 miles wide were a total loss. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) paid for removing 629 trees that were within five feet of the street. Greensburg’s ordinances will require removal of around another 1,500 mortally damaged trees within its easement.

Many Greensburg citizens and city leaders see an opportunity to build a "greener Greensburg." The idea includes concepts such as environmentally friendly buildings, alternative energy sources, water conservation systems, and working trees into landscapes to keep structures cooler.

McDonnell is working tirelessly to ensure the replanting effort embodies the "green" infrastructure mindset. Asked what would most help the community meet its canopy cover goal, McDonnell said, "What I need most is cash for more trees, and I will find the volunteers to plant them."

To offer additional help to the Community of Greensburg Reforestation Project, contact Tim McDonnell at 316-788-0492, Extension 202, or email him at tmcdonne@ksu.edu.