The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 2)

Bill Clinton could be a tree, what tree would he be? Faced with a presidential complex being constructed with little or no landscaping in place, and budget and fundraising shortfalls in the millions of dollars, the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, has sent out fundraising letters to potential donors offering to have trees dedicated to them if they will cover the cost of purchase and planting. It's yet another fundraising gimmick for a library that continues to struggle with raising the necessary construction dough. /p>

There are plans to plant more than 600 saplings and mature trees on the property, as part of a vision that would include tree species from every state in the union, or at least as many varieties as can survive in the Southern climate. And if the library can't raise the money for Clinton's forest? "There either won't be that many or we'll have to find another way to pay for them," says a library staffer.

Although the library's property has some mature trees in and around the construction, Clinton and his architectural team want tree-lined walkways and mini-forests for private chats and shaded repasts dotting the landscape. No word on what the overall landscaping bill is budgeted for. But at a minimum of 600 trees at $1,000 per, you get the idea.