MACOMB, ILL. (AP) -- Western Illinois University will be getting more green in the coming years.
The Arbor Day Foundation recently awarded a grant to WIU to reforest the Horn Field campus.
Funds will pay for more than 16 thousand saplings to plant in the 92-acres of woodlands, prairie and nature trails on the campus.
Students in related studies will be heavily involved in hands on learning in the reforestation efforts.
Right now Horn Field is overgrown with invasive species which prohibit native hardwood-tree growth. Jack-in-the-Pulpit, redheaded woodpeckers and burrowing crawfish all live in the campus.
Rob Porter, assistant professor in WIU's Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration said they applied for a Forest Service Grant. They do not find out if they are eligible until the Spring of 2013. This grant would cover more than just paying for the trees, such as cleaning out the forest from exotic and invasive plant species that currently cover the forest's ground.
(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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