St. Petersburg, Fla. (January 16, 2009) -  Today, Mayor Rick Baker joined more
than 120 children from the local community, The Florida Division of Forestry,
officials from the NFL and the Super Bowl Host Committee to plant more than 40
trees at Lake Vista Park, 1401 62nd Avenue South. "Jr. Scrubbin 'Da Burg" is
an annual community service project where all the city's youth councils unite
in an effort to beautify the city.
 
Planting trees around Lake Vista is an effort to reintroduce wetland species
along the Little Bayou Creek watershed and improve the water quality and
ecosystem. It is also part of an initiative to restore varieties of trees
originally indigenous to the Little Bayou Creek watershed prior to human
development. The project was proposed to the city by the Greater Pinellas
Point Civic Association in partnership with Tampa Bay Reforestation and
Environmental Effort, Inc.
 
This tree planting is part of the overall "greening" of Super Bowl done by the
NFL in partnership
with the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee with funding provided by the US
Forest Service, Home Depot, and the State of Florida Division of Forestry. It
is also part of Florida's annual celebration of Arbor Day which is the third
Friday in January.
 
Additional trees will be planted at the site through a grant with the Tampa
Bay Estuary Program.