On April 22nd, Missouri Conservation Corps was excited to partner with Missouri Department of Conservation Community Forester Ann Koenig and volunteers from MDC, AmeriCorps VISTA, and from the City of Columbia during the 2025 Callery Pear Buyback program in central Missouri.
Participants in the program were encouraged to cut down an invasive Callery or Bradford pear on their property, upload a photo, and then register for a replacement tree. The replacement trees were all native Missouri trees grown and provided by St. Louis’s Forest ReLeaf of Missouri and by Forrest Keeling Nursery of Ellsberry, Missouri.
During this event we were able to give away 115 native Missouri trees from the parking lot of the MDC Central Regional Office in Columbia, Missouri. The event was organized by the Missouri Invasive Plant Council, Forest ReLeaf, and Missouri Department of Conservation. Missouri Conservation Corps is eager to be involved again next year!
