Cape Coral construction company guides tree-planting projects; funded by Division of Forestry Grant

May 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Ringland Construction, Inc. has been contracted by the City of Cape Coral and the Urban Forestry by Rotary to complete two major tree planting projects in Cape Coral, thanks to two grants from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Forestry. The grants are part of the Florida Forest Health Improvement Initiative. Part of the grant stipulations assert that local businesses must be used to complete the project, so they are providing jobs in Cape Coral.* Both projects will be completed by the end of June to take advantage of Florida’s rainy season, which will help nurture the newly planted trees.

Grant to the City of Cape Coral enables shady oasis at Liam J. Perk Playground*

The City of Cape Coral project at Rotary Park in the Liam J. Perk Playground began on May 4, 2010. Working with the city, the Rotary Club of Cape Coral will be installing Slash pines, mahogany and live oak trees, which will provide shade and require minimal maintenance. All 100 trees that will be planted are native species to Florida. Also, the Liam J. Perk Foundation is funding and installing new playground equipment. The continual development of Rotary Park in Southwest Cape Coral is a partnership between the city and the Rotary Club of Cape Coral. It was built as a destination for families to enjoy and enhance the community’s value to businesses and citizens. Also, each project completed in the park has promoted local contractors, creating much needed jobs.

Grant to Urban Forestry by Rotary helps create forest canopy along Veterans Memorial Parkway*

The second grant is for the planting of 195 native trees including bald cypress, slash pines, and live oaks all along Veteran’s Memorial Parkway in Cape Coral. These species assist with flood control and water quality, and they are drought tolerant. Russ Ringland, president of Ringland Construction, Inc., helped establish Urban Forestry by Rotary in 2005 through the Rotary Club of Cape Coral. Trees will be planted east of Chiquita on the south side in a water retention area, and local contractors will be hired.

Volunteers needed to plant trees, build community

The Urban Forestry by Rotary also conducts a volunteer-driven project each year that takes place each Saturday in June.  The Rotary Club of Cape Coral sponsors the purchase of trees and permitting, and volunteers provide the help to get them all planted and mulched. Under Ringland’s leadership, Urban Forestry by Rotary has fundraised and written grants to plant 3,400 trees along Veterans Memorial in water retention areas since 2005.  This year, about 1800 more trees will be planted.

For each Saturday in June, Ringland Construction and Urban Forestry by Rotary are recruiting volunteers. Volunteers typically gather at predetermined sites starting at 9 a.m. and wrap up around 11 a.m. Interested parties should contact reception@ringlandconstruction.com to be added to the list for updates and site coordination for this year’s projects. Also, you can check out more photos from last year's event on our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ringlandconstruction/

*About the Grant-funded Projects: Funding for these projects was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. USDA is working to implement provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) to put Americans back to work and rejuvenate the nation’s economy. The Recovery Act  provided USDA with nearly $28 billion in funding, of that, $1.15 billion has been allocated to the Forest Service for project work in the forest restoration, hazardous fuels reduction, construction and maintenance of facilities, trails, and roads, green energy projects and grants to states, tribes and private landowners.

# # #

Founded in 1992, Ringland Construction, Inc. is family-owned and operated and is committed to completing client projects on time and within budget. Ringland Construction, Inc. embraces green building practices and green community service. Visit us on the web at http://ringlandconstruction.com.