CLARKSVILLE, IN (April 20, 2022) – Earth Day may be this Friday, but the Town of Clarksville is celebrating a little earlier due to “Thunder Over Louisville”. Today Clarksville Town Council Members helped plant one of the last of 50 trees purchased thanks to a grant from Duke Energy.
In late 2021, the Duke Energy Foundation awarded the Town of Clarksville a $10,000 grant to assist in adding to the community’s tree canopy. With the help of a certified Arborist, Clarksville Town officials selected several locations for the new trees in Gateway Park, along the new Discovery Trail, and on other Town owned properties. More than 12 different species of trees were planted across the Town and in each of the five districts.
“Duke Energy is proud to support the town of Clarksville’s tree canopy expansion to help improve air quality, provide heat relief and improve the quality of life,” said Lisa Brones Huber, government and community relations manager for Duke Energy.
The Duke Energy Foundation’s Powerful Communities program makes strategic investments to build powerful communities where our natural resources thrive, students can excel and a talented workforce drives economic prosperity for all. The Foundation annually funds more than $30 million to communities throughout Duke Energy’s seven-state service area.
Although this latest round of tree plantings was made possible by the generous grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, this won’t be the last. Clarksville Town Council President Ryan Ramsey says he will be working to make sure the Town of Clarksville will be investing the same amount in new trees each year to grow Town’s the tree canopy.
The Town of Clarksville is also working on a grant-funded study of the impacts of extreme heat, and to develop local strategies to alleviate the impacts of heat on the community. That grant is from Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute and supported by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.
In fact, a public meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, April 21st to get public input on the study. That meeting will be from 7:00-8:00pm at the old Service Merchandise building, located at 748 E Lewis & Clark Parkway. Clarksville residents are encouraged to attend the in-person meeting. They can also visit https://www.townofclarksville.com/residents/beat-the-heat/ for more information.
