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Volunteers Plant 120 Cherry Trees On Belle Isle

DETROIT (AP) — Volunteers have planted 120 flowering cherry trees on Belle Isle in Detroit with support from a $150,000 federal grant.

The Greening of Detroit says it coordinated 150 volunteers to work on the project Friday at the park's Scott Memorial Fountain. The nonprofit group and the Belle Isle Conservancy worked with the state Department of Natural Resources on the effort.

The U.S. Forest Service grant also paid for tree removal, a tree regeneration program and a tree inventory and management plan on the island.

Detroit's sister city in Japan donated flowering cherry trees in 1994, but many planted on Belle Isle have died or been removed because of disease and insects. The disease-resistant species aims to fill the gaps on Belle Isle, a state park in the Detroit River.

 

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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