Community Tree grant aims to reforest riparian areas to protect Brewer Lake and reduce treatment costs

The Conway Tree Board heard a presentation from the Arkansas Forest and Drinking Water Collaborative about a three-year Community Tree grant to establish locally sourced, potted riparian trees for drinking-water watersheds including Brewer Lake.

Environmental consultant Joy Wasson, who represents the collaborative, said the project will produce locally potted trees, offer technical and limited financial assistance for site preparation and irrigation, and build a "riparian tree bank" so landowners in qualifying watersheds can receive trees cost-free. "This is a 3 year project," Wasson said, and the collaborative plans to grow what she described as a modest number of trees (Wasson later stated a broader target of 5,000–7,000 across sites).

Wasson explained the rationale: riparian buffers reduce erosion and…