Colorado Forestry seedlings trade ?

It is the time of year when the State Forestry and the Cooperative Ag extension offices in Western Colorado release the list of seedlings available to land owners for very cheap. VERY cheap.

Here is their blurb:
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CSU Extension has partnered once again with the Colorado State Forest
Service (CSFS) to bring low cost seedling trees to the Tri-River Area.
This year we are offering over thirty varieties of trees in Bare-root,
Small & Large tubes, Trays, and Gallon size (not all species offered in
all types). Orders will be taken from November 2015 through April 2016,
with delivery expected in early May 2016. Additionally, the CSFS Foresters
will offer several educational opportunities for the community to learn
better practices to help their trees survive and thrive.
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There are a few conditions, own a few acres, the trees will be used for conservation, will NOT be sold, I can't think what else.

You have to buy them in lots of 30 or so, depending on the size of the tree seedlings you are ordering.

Pay when you order, get the trees in the spring.

For example, I want Thin Leaf Alder for nitrogen fixing, for future fire wood, for future coppicing, for shade, for the goats to eat. I want the large tube seedlings, they'll be about a foot tall when I get them . All of that is good. I'll have to order 30, and pay $76.00 for them. It's a great price, and I could plant that many on my two acres. I also want Silver Buffalo Berry, a beautiful small tree native to this region. That makes 60 trees costing $152.00.

Then there are the 4 linden trees for 50 bucks, and so on. Easy to get too many trees, if I get every kind I want.

Since these are seedlings, you get a lot more diversity among the individual plants than with horticulturalized varieties and asexual reproduction, and that's a good thing!

I was wondering if anyone else in the area would be ordering who might want to share the 30 , or buy other species and trade for some of mine.

I'll be ordering right away, because the ones I want might otherwise sell out.

I can PM the links for the lists of trees and contacts with the counties (delta, montrose, mesa) involved, if anyone is interested.

Thekla

to bad your on the other side of the divide, we have been looking for someone to do this with locally for a few years!

this year we are planning to order honeylocust (though the website says they are already sold out), hackberry, hybrid cottonwood (poplar), lilac and apricot.
we are just gonna order 50 bareroot of each and hope others want a few. we might recoupe some of our money, or we might just end up planting another 125 trees on the property (did 100 last year)

good luck getting someone in on this. seems like most would rather have a dozen trees of 6 varieties instead of 25 trees in only 3 varieties.

Hi Kellly,

yeah, but it's a good opportunity, and many people have a lot more ground than I do! I plan to honor the no selling thing but may be able to trade a few to people who want them. At least we don't have to dig very big holes for them.


Thekla