More tree saplings headed to Bastrop

AUSTIN (KXAN) - After losing 1.5 million trees in the wildfires, Bastrop is slowly replanting, little by little.

Thursday in East Austin, the group TreeFolks loaded 350 saplings onto a truck to be taken to Bastrop on Friday.

"I've walked out there. It's like a moonscape, it's tragic," said April Rose, a forester with TreeFolks. "It's also Mother Nature. So what can we do as stewards of the urban forest."

TreeFolks and some 40 other organizations will hold a workshop in Bastrop on Friday to provide aid and information to residents who suffered losses in the fires. The saplings will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

TreeFolks is working with the Lost Pines Recovery Team to provide trees to the community. More than 1,300 trees have been delivered since November.

Tree saplings being donated include:

• 50 - 5-gallon cedar elms
• 200 - 1-gallon burr oaks
• 50 - 1-gallon desert willow
• 50 - 1-gallon Texas persimmon

Can they survive as the drought continues?

"I know we'll lose some," Rose said. "That's normal, with drought conditions it's to be expected. But people are committed more than ever to stewarding their trees, so I think we'll have a pretty good survival rate ... People that get these trees view them as precious little signs of life, so they're dedicated to helping them survive."

The Texas Forest Service suggests a specific mix of native grass and forb to aid in restoration of burned-out areas, as follows:

• Little Bluestem -- 50 percent
• Indiangrass -- 10 percent
• Purpletop -- 5 percent
• Blackwell Switchgrass -- 5 percent
• Green  Sprangletop -- 20 percent
• Partridge Pea -- 2.5 percent
• Illinois Bundleflower -- 5 percent
• Maximillian Sunflower -- 2.5 percent

TFS suggests scattering the grass seed from Feb. 15 through May 15.

In 2009, Bastrop planted 50,000 saplings. All were lost to the oncoming drought.