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Grassroots environmental group has helped plant thousands of trees in Springfield

Volunteers plant a tree in Gunn Square in Springfield, Massachusetts in October 2019
ReGreen Springfield
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Volunteers plant a tree in Gunn Square in Springfield, Massachusetts in October 2019

ReGreen Springfield launched after the 2011 tornado

For more than a decade, an all-volunteer organization has advocated for planting trees in Springfield, Massachusetts.

ReGreen Springfield was created in the immediate aftermath of the June 1, 2011 tornado that tore through about a third of the city, destroying much of the tree canopy.

Partnering with the city’s Forestry Division, the state’s Greening the Gateway Cities initiative, and other public and private groups, ReGreen has planted roughly 5,000 new trees in the city.

WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with ReGreen Springfield President Dave Bloniarz.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.