The Hampton Tree Board is continuing its efforts to restore the local tree canopy in 2026, with plans to plant about 70 trees throughout Franklin County this spring.
The project is supported by a $22,040 grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, with funding provided through the U.S. Forest Service. The money will be used to purchase trees that will be planted on public property across the county. Tree Board members say the grant funds must be used within two years and are reimbursed after purchases are made.
This year also marks Hampton’s 14th consecutive year as a Tree City USA community, a designation that began after widespread tree loss, including dying oak trees in Harriman Park.
Tree Board member Randy Sanders tells RadioOnTheGo News the group is prioritizing plantings in the public right-of-way areas.
“The city of Hampton lost roughly 365 ash trees just in the right-of-way alone throughout the whole city,” Sanders says. “Also trees can go on trails, parks, but we’re using other grants to do that. This grant that we got through the DNR is gonna be a big shot in the arm. So we are just about sold out for the spring of our 70 trees, which is our goal. And then this fall we’ll be planting some more trees in the right of way. Anything that is left, we’ll finish up next spring with that grant. And hopefully by the time we’re done, we’re shooting to put in at least 150 trees in the right-of-ways of Hampton. And these trees are free for the people that live there, no cost to the homeowner.”
Sanders says while the emerald ash borer has played a major role in tree loss locally, it’s not the only threat facing Hampton’s tree population.
“The bur oak blight was another big thing and it seems to kind of concentrate in some areas, that was a big problem down in Harriman Park. It’s a fungus that gets onto the trees,” Sanders says. “A lot of this stuff kind of goes into cycles. And so the next thing that you’re talking about is an Asian Longhorn Beetle, which affects a lot of maple trees, also a lot of just hardwood trees. So there’s always something on the horizon. And one of the most things we can’t do anything about is Mother Nature and our severe storms and it’s getting more and more severe. Mother Nature has the final say on everything.”
For more information or to request a tree at no cost this year, call 641-425-7200 or 515-681-1826.
Full interview below
Photo: Tree board members Randy Sanders and Lori Poulos planting a tree on the bike path near Seabee’s earlier this month, courtesy of Jennifer Burnham, Hampton Chronicle News Editor
