Improvements continue on Twin Lakes trail

Fri September 01 2006
Posted Sep 1, 2006
5,969

Volunteers have planted trees on almost 6 miles of the trail By OBAID KHAWAJA, Messenger staff writer TWIN LAKES — The new Twin Lakes trail, made possible by two grants received earlier this year, is nearly complete. The grants, valued at $9,875 and $9,600, were awarded this spring through the Iowa’s Living Roadways Project Program, which is administered by Trees Forever. The money is intended to help with landscape development and improvement of the Twin Lakes area. Since then, volunteers have been busy planting trees, and about 5.7 miles of the trail are finished. Signs are expected to be put up in the next year. Twin Lakes was one of 17 sites from around the state that were chosen for the grants. ‘‘The trail was going to (be completed) regardless,’’ said volunteer Pat Minnick. ‘‘It was such a viable project.’’ Communities that apply for the grants must have a population of less than 10,000 and are required to match 30 percent of the funding with money or volunteer help. Additionally, at least 50 percent of the trees planted must be native to Iowa. ‘‘Their goal is to complete (planting) 6.3 miles around the lake,’’ said Trish Kohl, communications coordinator for Trees Forever. The program is available throughout Iowa and Illinois, and volunteers and Trees Forever members have been responsible for planting about 2.7 million trees since 1989. The ILRPP was started by Trees Forever in 1996 to address the problem of shrinking woodlands around the state. The group provides up to $15,000 for each applicant. ‘‘(The organization was started) to answer a need for planting native prairie back into Iowa,’’ Kohl said. ‘‘With the economy growing, construction was wiping out our natural areas.’’ Rockwell City resident Pat Minnick has been involved in tree planting projects in the area since 1974 when he joined the Twin Lakes Golf Club Tree Committee. Minnick said he wasn’t bothered by the fact that he wouldn’t be able to see results from all his effort. ‘‘You can see the results in your mind,’’ Minnick said. ‘‘You know future generations will be the benefactors.’’ In 2004 and 2005, he applied for both of the grants and has planted about 230 trees in the Twin Lakes area during the last two years. He recalls becoming interested in trees during his role as principal of the local high school. ‘‘When I was a high school principal here, a biology teacher got me interested (in trees),’’ he said. Applications for the program are available at the Trees Forever Web site (www.treesforever.org). The deadline for applications is Nov. 15. Contact Obaid Khawaja at (515) 573-2141 or obaid@messengernews.net