POLK COUNTY -- The Polk County Environmental Services Division logged 190 orders for tree saplings this past Arbor Day, which totaled more than 16,500 total trees sold to area residents.
Polk County’s Tree and Shrub Program has been offered for over 36 years and offers a variety of pines, hardwoods and shrubs for interested area residents to plant. They are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis and are picked up by the customer. This program helps maintain the natural beauty of Polk County and the rest of Northwest Wisconsin by increasing the number of trees and by generating proceeds that are used to fund youth programming put on by Environmental Services.
One example of these programs is the Poster/Speech contest. This is a contest for all school age students within Polk Counties to create posters and speeches with a conservation theme. Winners move onto an area contest, and winners of the area contests compete at the state level. This year’s theme was “Healthy Soil/Healthy Life”, and Polk County’s winner, Emma Mullin from Unity, went on to win at the state level.
Another program that proceeds from the tree sale helps fund is the Tri-County Soil Judging Contest. Each fall, this event is put on by Polk, Burnett and Washburn Counties for all High School students. Soils are judged by the students by texture, slope, land use capabilities and structure. Locations are hosted on a rotating basis; this year’s contest will be hosted by Burnett County.
Interested individuals can request getting on the Land & Water Resources mailing list to receive a tree order form in the mail at the end of the year. Please contact please contact the Land & Water Resources Department at 715-485-8699 or email carol.zygowicz@polkcountywi.gov if you would like to get on this list.
Last Update: May 11, 2022 8:54 am CDT
