UGA Cooperative Extension is a collaboration between UGA CAES and UGA FACS.
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Our Impact
March 1, 2007, a destructive tornado hit Americus in Sumter County. Besides loss of life and the destruction of medical facilities and other buildings, citizens knew the promotional theme “Americus the Beautiful” no longer existed. Historical trees surviving since the Civil War days were destroyed or refigured. Joyce Myers Park, Oak Grove Cemetery and Rees Park near downtown and the historic district needed a major renovation. The Americus Re-Greening Committee would be charged to evaluate damages loss in Joyce Myers Park, Oak Grove Cemetery and Rees Park and develop a renovation plan. A UGA Cooperative Extension forester worked with the county Extension team and the committee to evaluate damaged sites and present a final landscape plan. The UGA School of Environmental Horticulture master plan requested replacement trees for the parks and cemetery. An outreach for funding has received commitments from eight organizations totaling $191,000. Although the replanting should take several years to mature, the citizens of Americus-Sumter County may benefit through aesthetics.
