Franklin International Donates Cost of 3,500 Trees for Hardwood Forestry Fund’s Earth Day Planting at the Wilds Conservation Center

Franklin International, a leading manufacturer of adhesives and sealants, honored Earth Day through a donation to the Hardwood Forestry Fund to cover the cost of 3,500 trees for the Wilds, a private, non-profit conservation center located on nearly 10,000 acres of reclaimed land mined for coal and in rural southeastern Ohio not far from the company’s Columbus, Ohio headquarters.

The Hardwood Forestry Fund project seeks to both restore the land to its original, forested state and establish habitats rapidly disappearing from the region. For the Earth Day project, approximately 90 local high school students and a handful of teachers hand-planted 700 seedlings of each of five hardwoods, including red oak, chestnut oak, black walnut, sugar maple and tulip poplar, across a five-acre area.

In addition to creating a timber-producing stand, the mature trees will provide a valuable wildlife habitat and forage. The project also will serve as an educational tool for project participants, student interns and researchers looking at effective planting methods on reclaimed mine lands and the 110,000+ visitors to the Wilds each year.  

“The Hardwood Forestry Fund is making a difference in our world, one tree at a time, creating sustainable forests to provide valuable resources to both wildlife and people,” said Jaye Schroeder, vice president, wood adhesives market development, North America for Franklin Adhesives & Polymers, a division of Franklin International. “We are honored to have the opportunity to be a part of reclaiming and advancing the Fund’s overall cause.”

Established in 1984, the Wilds combines cutting-edge conservation science and education programs with hands-on experiences. It is home to more than 30 rare and endangered species from around the globe along with hundreds of indigenous species, such as bobcats, osprey and wild turkey. The Wilds will assume long-term management of the Hardwood Forest Fund planting, providing weed control, monitoring growth and survival, timber management/harvest and supplemental planting.

The Hardwood Forestry Fund is a 501(c)(3) educational organization dedicated to establishing sustainable hardwood forests. Through tree planting and implementation of forest management techniques on public land, the Fund promotes hardwood timber growth, management, environmental education and wise use of the nation’s renewable forest resources.

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