Fort Garland Museum completes new tree project

FORT GARLAND – The Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center recently completed work related to a $2,000 grant from the Colorado Tree Coalition (CTC) for the Fort Garland Parade Ground Tree Restoration Project.

The purpose for the Fort Garland Parade Ground Tree Restoration Project is that the Museum receives 10,000 visitors annually and numerous summer programs for school kids are offered under the shade of these trees. The trees on the parade ground are not native but provide shade and ambiance to the fort. The trees and flagpole at the center of the grounds are iconic images of the Fort. The 32 trees were in various states of health ranging from good to poor to dying.

The project included the removal of six trees and the planting of twelve. Sam Scavo of the Colorado State Forest Service with help from students from Sierra Blanca School dug holes and planted the trees on May 17-18. The Fun Friday at the Fort group helped with the planting and learned about trees and products that can come from trees.

Through interpretive labels and guided tours, the environment and the effects of the project will have an educational piece for personnel and visitors, including on why cottonwood trees were selected by the soldiers to surround the parade ground, how they were watered and the benefits and problems with that type of tree.   

Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center is a Community Museum of History Colorado, located at 29477 Highway 159, in Fort Garland. The museum includes adobe buildings original to the 19th-century United States Army post with exhibits on the Civil War in the West, the preservation of the Fort, Buffalo Soldiers, and one-time commander Kit Carson. Museum admission is $5 for adults, $4.50 for seniors, and $3.50 for children ages 6-15. Kids 5 and under are free. For more information, call 719-379-3512.

Caption: Students from Sierra Blanca School plant trees on the parade ground at the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center./Courtesy photo