GILMAN — It’s been an exciting year at the Green Castle Recreation Area located just south of Ferguson with the completion and celebration of the first phase of the new campground back in August, and on Tuesday afternoon, Marshall County Conservation staff, Trees Forever and volunteers from Emerson came together to plant 60 trees and shrubs through the “Stewards of the Beautiful Land” program.

As Marshall County Conservation Director Emily Herring explained during a lunch before the work began, the funding for the trees and shrubs primarily came from the Marshall County Landfill and Trees Forever.

“We really try to do projects like these on a minimum cost as much as possible (and) keep the price down, so that way we can get as many trees in as we can,” she said.

She also shouted out the Emerson volunteers who were assisting with planting efforts for the third time and noted that many hands make the process go faster. Despite the slightly muddy conditions due to rainfall over the past few days, the group made their way from the shelter house out to the second phase of the campground area, which is just wrapping up and includes 14 additional stalls, and got to work after a brief demonstration from Herring’s husband, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forester Joe Herring.

Emily Herring said they were planting at least 20 different species of trees, and Trees Forever Field Coordinator Brad Riphagen of Jefferson, who primarily works in southwest Iowa, was happy to be involved in a project in Marshall County.

“This has been part of the educational program that we do called ‘Stewards of the Beautiful Land,’ and so this is, like, the wrap-up. One of the things we like to see happen with that group after they’ve looked at all the different types of native plants in different areas is to actually get their hands dirty and see what it takes to put one of these in the ground and spend some time with it,” he said. “And I think we’ve put a little bit of money up. Emily, on the other hand, got a whole lot more money, and this is kind of a little bit of (a) seed.”

Along with the Landfill, Trees Forever, and the volunteers from Emerson, Consumers Energy volunteered to dig all the holes for the trees. Riphagen also reflected on the impact trees have at a place like Green Castle.

“I don’t know if I can give you a quantifiable (answer), but I could tell you to come out here in July when it’s 90 out and see everybody’s parked and where they’re sitting,” he said. “So you’ll see the impact of the trees very quickly when they start providing shade.”