RV park gets beautification boost

By Wiley Hendrix
Staff Writer

The Branson City RV Park is looking better this week, thanks to the addition of 43 new trees.

The city’s planning department and parks and recreation department have joined forces on this task to make the campground more visually appealing.

The city is planting the trees with funds secured through a Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance Grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The tree planting was at the southeast section of the park where there are currently no trees by the sites.

“This planting is definitely needed, since every year more sycamore trees have been removed due to becoming hazards, and especially with the floods of last year,” said Branson City Forester Tara Norback. “I have been working with parks & recreation to improve the appearance of the RV park to make it more inviting.”

“It’s pretty important to get these trees planted,” said Preston Pepper, assistant parks and recreation director. “The floods and ice storms from the last couple of years have really hurt the trees in this area. It will be good to restore some of those trees and it also gives the campground more character.”

Several types of trees were planted this week, including river birch, redbud, white fringe, sugar maple, black gum, northern capla and magnolias.

In addition to the trees, the parks department has added ornamental grasses and shrubs.

The TRIM grant also provided funds for purchasing informational brochures from the International Society of Arboriculture to assist residents with questions concerning tree planting and maintenance.

Twenty different topics are addressed by these brochures including “Benefits of Trees,” “Plant Health Care” and “Treatment of Trees Damaged by Construction.”

The brochures are free to the public and can be obtained at the planning department in Branson City Hall.

The TRIM grant is a cost-share program that provides financial assistance for the management, improvement or conservation of urban and community forests.

“This grant allows us to do larger projects that we normally wouldn’t be able to do because of the economic situation,” Norback said. “For the upcoming grant application in 2009, we are considering a tree inventory to assess the health and number of existing city trees, or we may do another planting project.”