The Town of Winnsboro is one of several municipalities completing for a grant awarded to the South Carolina Forestry Commission to help towns pay for the pruning or removal of hazardous trees.

Connie Shackelford, Grant Administrator/Community Development for the Town of Winnsboro, said the Community Forest Health Enrichment through Hazard Tree Mitigation & Canopy Tree Restoration grant will award each winning municipality $35,000 -- $26,000 for the removal or pruning of hazardous trees and $9,000 for canopy restoration, or the planting of new trees. The grant’s guidelines state that “for each hazard tree removed, at least one tree must be planted to replace it within 50 feet of the original location.”

“This is a once in a lifetime grant,” Shackelford said. “and I hope that we get it.”

According to Shackelford, the town has several trees on public and private properties that are considered hazard, or a danger to a person, house or vehicle.

“We know there are people who are upset about the idea of losing their beloved trees, but we want them to know that this is for the betterment of the community,” Shackelford said. “We are not going to take down a safe, good tree.”

Adding a little more reassurance to the community, Shackelford said “no final decisions have been made about which trees will be removed. We can go back and reprioritize the order.”

On Dec. 9, the grant administrator took Piedmont Region Urban Forester Jimmy Walters on a walking tour around Winnsboro for him to identify potentially dangerous trees.

“He showed me one tree that was so bad, he told me not to park my car under it,” she said.

To have that one particular tree removed will cost the town $3,000. Through the grant, the town will pay nothing, and a new one can be planted in its place.

Other trees Walters considered hazardous were ones with root rot, pockets of decay and lightning damage.

After seeing firsthand the dangerous conditions of some of the town’s trees, Shackelford said “I’m scared for the community, for the people who walk under these trees while walking down the street. I’m afraid one of these trees may topple down on them.”

Walters also pointed out several trees with dead limbs, that the grant would pay to have pruned, she added.

Pictures of some of these trees were mailed along with the town’s grant application.

Right now, Shackelford said, the town is only in the first step of the grant process, final decisions will be made by the Town Council and the Tree Board if Winnsboro receives the grant. Grantees will be notified on Jan. 26, 2010.