CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (WTXL) \u2014 Hurricane Michael devastated Florida’s longleaf pine population. Since then, the Florida State Parks Foundation has been raising money to plant new trees. Wednesday, they planted five hundred seedlings.<\/p>\n
Hurricane Michael destroyed around 500 million longleaf pines.Under the foundation’s Plant a Pine program, every dollar raised has helped plant one new seedling.Watch the video below to learn why these longleaf pines are so important to North Florida.<\/p>\n
The State Parks Foundation celebrates bringing back 500,000 longleaf pine trees back to Florida<\/p>\n
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:<\/p>\n
What you see behind me is neighbors coming together to help rebuild and restore the hurricane-damaged longleaf pine habitats in the area.<\/p>\n
I’m Serena Davanzo, your Crawfordville neighborhood reporter. <\/p>\n
The State Parks Foundation says that the populations are down to less than 5% of their historic range.<\/p>\n
The state parks foundation is celebrating bringing back 500,000 longleaf pines throughout Florida through their Plant a Pine program.<\/p>\n
The goal? To jump-start the re-propagation of that habitat since the population had decreased to less than 5% of their historic range.<\/p>\n
This all started after Hurricane Michael devastated the population here in North Florida, destroying over 500 million trees. <\/p>\n
With this program, it also helps support more than 30 endangered species.<\/p>\n
They celebrated this milestone by planting over 500 native longleaf pine seedlings at Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Representatives from the state parks, the State Parks Foundation, and project partner Tallahassee Bass Pro Shops gathered to plant them. <\/p>\n
The State Parks foundation says every tree they plant brings restoration to that ecosystem.<\/p>\n
The foundation says that they want to continue planting as many as they can every day.<\/p>\n
In Crawfordville Serena Davanzo, ABC27<\/p>\n
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