Highway of Heroes Living Tribute
The mission of the Highway of Heroes Living Tribute is simple: To honour Canada’s fallen by planting 117, 000 trees, one for every fallen Canadian Soldier since Confederation, along and near the Highway of Heroes between Trenton and Toronto.
This is an exciting month for the Highway of Heroes Living Tribute…. After 3 years of planning and hard work, we began our journey in tree planting! Our dream of creating a living legacy for Canadians who fell during times of war has begun in earnest. In time, a green, living corridor of trees will line the route that brought many of our heroes home.
We love trees….and we especially love native Canadian trees. There are teams of experts collaborating on this project who understand the biology and ecology of native trees. In cooperation with the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre, we’re using scientific research to guide our tree selection process within the transportation corridor. Rest assured, we’re going to put the right trees in the right locations.
How will we plant 117,000 trees? – with the right people of course. Our partners include Landscape Ontario (the trade association of tree and plant growers), Forests Ontario (the tree planting organization, empowered by the Government of Ontario to plant 50,000,000 trees by 2025.) and Maple Leaves Forever who are dedicated to increasing the coverage of native maple trees throughout southern Ontario.
There are over 200 specific planting sites identified by our comprehensive Landscape Master Plan. Designed by award winning Landscape Architect Ron Koudys, the plan looks at a number of factors including: local topography, soil type and condition, prevailing wind and weather, views from the highway and line of site, ground and surface water, Setback distance from the highway, and available room for planting.
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