SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) - A conservation group is beginning a three-year drive to revamp about 1,500 vacant lots in east-central Michigan by planting flowers.
The Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy started its campaign last week to transform nearly half of the 3,000 vacant lots owned by the Saginaw County Land Bank into plots planted with flowers, the Saginaw News reported.
“It started out as a conservation idea - pollinators are imperiled they’re declining all over the world,” said Zachary Branigan, executive director of the conservancy. “The project began to feel far more important once we got to meet the people. The pollinator aspect of it is still a big part of it, but to me this project is so far removed from that now, it’s really about reconnecting neighborhoods.”
The nonprofit has nearly completed fundraising efforts for the project, having raised about 75 percent of the required $450,000, according to Branigan.
The conservancy hopes to tackle 450 lots this year. Crews have started clearing the lots of garbage and other debris. Workers will eventually plant different types of low-growing flowers and grass.
Branigan said replacing garbage and tall grass with cleaner lots is part of the fight against Saginaw blight.
“When you drive through a neighborhood where the lots are messy and the grass is tall and there’s stuff dumped everywhere, it gives off the impression that people don’t care about that community, that no one is taking pride in it,” said Jamie Forbes, executive director of the Ezekiel Project, a religious nonprofit. “When you drive through and see something like the pollinator plots, it’s a point of pride.”
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Information from: The Saginaw News, http://www.mlive.com/saginaw
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