All this rain is watering newly-planted trees put in the ground Friday in honor of Arbor Day.

Friday, the Forestry Commission and legislators planted a willow tree on the lawn of the capitol. State Forester Everard Baker says planting new trees has never been as important as right now.

Hurricane Katrina devastated nearly three million trees and caused more than two billion dollars in damage to the timber industry.

“One point two million acres were impacted. When you look at the volume that was down and compare it to an annual harvest, we lost over an annual harvest of timber for the state in a matter of six hours,” said Baker.

Baker says more than 400 million federal dollars are expected to help restore the timber industry in Mississippi.