Grant to help add 100 native trees to El Portal

BY RODOLFO ROMAN
Special to The Miami Herald
El Portal officials will soon be painting the village green.

About 100 native trees will be planted thanks to a state grant.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services awarded the village $10,000 to plant native trees such as mahogany, live oak, wild tamarind, gumbo limbo and green buttonwood.

The village will provide a $10,000 match to the grant.

The trees will be planted in areas where there is a lack of tree canopy. Trees will also be added to entryways, medians and streets. Village administrators decided on the locations.

Adding additional trees is part of El Portal's mission, said Village Manager Jason Walker.

``This grant is in keeping with our goal to provide adequate tree canopy throughout our Village,'' Walker wrote in an e-mail.

Trees are abundant in the village, which the state designated as a tree and bird sanctuary more than 50 years ago.

The village will seek bids from local tree nurseries and contract with them to provide the trees, delivery, planting, staking, mulching and watering during establishment, and replacement if dead during the first year, wrote Walker.

El Portal last planted trees in the village four years ago. Walker said the planting could be conducted later in the summer.

For information, call 305-795-7880.