NEWS RELEASE
GRAND RIVER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
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The GRCA is cancelling all spring tree planting activities for 2020. This includes online orders, community planting events, private land tree planting projects, as well as the GRCA’s annual tree sale in May.
Following the direction of both the federal and provincial government regarding social distancing, the GRCA reduced its operations with most staff working remotely. For a number of reasons, it would be difficult to practice appropriate social distancing measures while continuing with the usual tree planting activities this spring.
“Some activities, like packaging trees and loading/unloading trees, require that people work alongside one another, and while we can encourage people to maintain physical distance, some incidental contact between people is still likely to occur,” says Lisa Stocco, Manager of Communications. “The safety of our staff and the community remains our highest priority.”
In addition, some of the GRCA’s nursery partners may face potential disruptions to their operations. Given the short window in the spring when tree planting can take place, this added uncertainty, coupled with the importance of maintaining social distancing as much as possible, the decision has been made to cancel tree planting activities for this spring.
GRCA staff involved in spring tree planting activities are contacting customers, suppliers and community partners directly to advise of the cancellations, as well as to provide options for deferring projects or processing refunds.
For more information on regarding tree orders and tree planting activities, please visit www.grandriver.ca/COVID19-FAQ.
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