Forestry Commission grant to help Columbus city leaders maintain historic cemetery
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A grant from the Mississippi Forestry Commission is helping Columbus city leaders maintain the beauty and safety of historic Friendship Cemetery.
The grant will allow the city to perform a tree inventory of the cemetery.
This morning, the first phase of the project began with Fulgham’s Tree Service using a drone that will help count, identify, and diagnose issues with the trees.
From there, the city will work with experts to study the data and determine which ones need attention.
The inventory can help identify potential safety issues. Over the years, several large limbs have dropped, sometimes causing damage to monuments.
The study will also give the city a better look at the road conditions in the cemetery.
“It’s going to give us the size of the trees, species, and there will be a website that the public can go to, and they can click on a tree. Some of them may have photographs of the trees. It’ll tell us the health of the trees. They’ve got radar; they can look at the trunks of the trees, and kind of see inside, and what’s going on with them,” said Grant Writer Susan Wilder.
“We’re trying to make sure that what this city needs, the City Council and the Mayor are providing that. And for people who want to know what’s going on in this historical cemetery, it’s our job to make sure that that’s brought to them, and we’re transparent,” said Director Rogena Ivey Bonner.
