NEWS RELEASES
Plant A Tree For Earth Day Becomes Reality for Illinois Schools
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through Illinois News Network's website.
This Earth Day, the Illinois Department of Transportation sent Illinois schools 5,000 trees in honor of the nationally recognized day. The IDOT has slowly become one of the biggest tree planters in the state. DOT's Jessie Decker says, "It's a way for us to replace trees that were taken out for construction or maintenance activities, and it's also a great way for IDOT to partner and improve our communities across Illinois." Each year the agency gives local schools across Illinois thousands of trees.
According to Benjamin Yount of the Illinois News Network, the IDOT has helped plant about 50,000 trees across the state since 2009. Decker said each IDOT district will get 550 trees for their local schools. Earth Day this year is focused on protecting millions of plant and animal species from going extinct, according to the Earth Day Network.