BUFFALO, N.Y. — For more than a decade, Paul Maurer has been working with volunteers across Western New York to replace the 57,000 trees that were lost during the October Storm in 2006.
Maurer created ReTree Western New York to help communities that were most affected by tree loss. Half of the trees lost were collected by volunteers and the other half were matched by the cities and town who were affected. The 30,000th volunteer tree was planted Friday morning at Canalside in Buffalo.
"It's been you know, a lot of work, it's been a lot of volunteers, which is great, and the beauty of it is a lot of these people now that have planted with us over the years know how to plant trees. So I think we have more tree-planters in this city, probably than any other just because they've all stepped up to do this," Maurer told 2 On Your Side.
Maurer worked with the hundreds of volunteers, who worked with ReTree over the last decade, to teach them the bare-root planting method that allowed them to reach their planting goal faster.
One of those Volunteers was Linda Garwol. Garwol has been involved with ReTree Western New York for years, and she says the sight of the overturned trees in her area spurred her to action. She says she enjoys seeing the progress she and other volunteers have made in replacing the trees that were once destroyed.
"We just started showing up and it's been fun," Garwol told 2 On Your Side.
The other trees have been planted periodically since the Storm ended. The remaining 120 trees that were donated will be planted beginning Saturday morning.