By Ginny Johnson | Business Relations Coordinator
A community forestry initiative spearheaded by a former Nekoosa Mill employee culminated on Nov. 6 with the planting of eight new trees across the city.
The project, aimed at improving Nekoosa’s urban forest canopy, was made possible by a “$2K Your Way” grant awarded to Jason McCauley earlier this year.
McCauley, who has since transferred to Domtar’s Hawesville Mill, initiated the project after a 2022 city-commissioned tree survey revealed that much of the existing roadside tree stock was dying due to age, pests or disease.
His grant proposal focused on working with the City of Nekoosa to replace and diversify these trees.
On the day of the planting, a team of the mill’s Nekoosa Connectors program worked alongside two members of the city’s Department of Public Works. The volunteers split into two groups and planted a total of eight trees throughout the area.
The newly planted species were selected to ensure variety and resilience, including a mix of autumn brilliance serviceberry, winter king hawthorn, harvest gold linden and skyline honey locust.
Domtar extends its thanks to volunteers Shane Adam, John Bowman, Lindsey Hoffman, Dave Orcutt, Jeff Reinke, Cortt Robus, Jonah Semyonov, Ian Stefaniak, Jon Tschudy and Ginny Johnson.