Crisp air and cozy sweaters are now the norm as autumn arrived on Wednesday and employees for FirstEnergy and Penn Power volunteered to begin the season by planting more than 100 saplings in Hermitage's Buhl Park.

The trees were planted along 500 square feet of green space dedicated to helping rebuild the forest around the park.

"The nursery that we built, which has never been done before, is giving these trees the best opportunity to mature and survive," said Ryan Voisey, Director of Operations at Buhl Park.

Once the trees mature, which will take three to five years, they will be then dug up and moved to different locations around the park. The list of trees being planted is pin oaks, pitch pines, American hornbeams and red maples.

So far the park has removed 70 to 75 dead trees from the park. They have already planted 80 trees to replace the dead trees and they planted 100 more today.

The event was part of FirstEnergy's commitment to donate and plant over 10,000 trees in 2021. They have surpassed that number already. Trees have been planted in each of the six states where they provide service since beginning the initiative in April.

The company is seeing the opportunity as a chance to reduce their carbon footprint while trying to advance sustainable practices and promote responsible use of natural resources. 

FirstEnergy and Buhl Park both plan to keep planting more trees in the years to come.