S.D. man wants a forest

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Jim Smith wants to plant trees instead of corn, soybeans and wheat on his 280-acre farm near Brentford.

He sees it as a way to tackle global warming because trees help offset carbon emissions.

People can sponsor a tree for $99 — $199 if they choose the species — and he’ll plant and maintain the tree at Heartland Trees.

Smith said he has planted about 300 trees so far and will gradually switch from crops to trees as interest and demand increases.

“Back in the ‘90s, I was involved with cleaning up dead trees that drown in the Jim River,” he said. “I thought, ‘There’s a lot of people in this world that would like to plant trees, but don’t have the place or the time or the guarantee that they won’t be torn up in a few years.”’

Tags: southdakota, forest