COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Around 150 volunteers gathered at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs Wednesday to clean up and replant trees.
It's part of a day of service for the nonprofit Saluting Branches.
The group goes to cemeteries where veterans are buried to help maintain and care for the trees there, which means doing the following:
- cutting down dead branches
- removing deadfall
- replacing trees
- replanting trees
The Colorado Springs City Forester, Matthew Puckett, says he thinks they did about $100,000 worth of work Wednesday. But for many, it was about honoring the veterans who are buried at Evergreen.
"Everyone has that connection to the military," said Puckett. "Everyone wants to find ways, creative ways to support them, and this is one way that the Arborist community in Colorado Springs can give back."
Puckett says volunteers planted about 30 new trees to replace the dead ones.
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Massive search effort underway in Colorado for 2 missing hunters
For several days, a search effort has been underway for two missing hunters in southern Colorado. According to the Conejos County Sheriff's office, they responded to the Rio De Los Pinos Trailhead to make contact with two people who were reported overdue while elk hunting on Sept. 13.
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