Trees MS Open House: Creating a Greener Gulfport

“We are becoming a more urban nation. People are moving into cities and cities are expanding, but we need to do so sustainably.”

This is Caroline Ingram with the Green Infrastructure Center and with hosting the Trees MS Open House event they’re hoping to give South Mississippians a bit of a green thumb.

“We’ve been working with the city of Gulfport looking at their urban tree canopy. We’ve done a bunch of mapping and analysis working with the city to come up with some plans and strategies. Right now we’re displaying what we’ve learned to the community as a way to get some feedback and hear what strategies they would like to see.”

“Urban forestry is ensuring you have trees within the city itself so you think about street trees or trees in parking lots. You go to the mall and the parking lot is nothing but asphalt but you find the one tree and park their because you want to be in the shade. What we’re trying to do is strike a balance to expand or maintain the canopy through projects like parks or street trees. It’s something we are trying to do and trying to gather more community support for.”

To make the efforts of the Trees MS Open House last it takes community members like James L. Franklin Jr. who look to make a lasting impact.

“I thought I was up to date on things that were growing in the county and I just discovered from their literature that we could plant 143,000 plus trees and still not have enough in Orange Grove.”

If you have a bit of a green thumb and are interested in events like this you can find a link to the Green Infrastructure Center here.