A campaign to plant 178 trees in the next month troughout downtown Baton Rouge began today.Baton Rouge Green and Stanford Group Company started the Re-Green Downtown Baton Rouge campaign to fill 178 empty tree wells lining the streets in the Downtown Development District with a variety of trees.The trees are all native varities to Louisiana and include Little Gem magnolias, East Palatka hollies, allee elms, willow oaks, bald cypress, ceder elms and Chinese Pistache.Diana Losavio, exectutive director of Baton Rouge Green, said street trees provide a safer walking environment, more efficent storm-water management and better air quality. She also referenced a study that said people tend to linger longer and spend more money in businesses on tree-lined streets.Mayor Kip Holden also addressed the small crowd gathered in the cold outside the Shaw Center for the Arts.”This is the day we will make all other cities in America green with envy,” Holden joked.—-Contact Jack LeBlanc at [email protected]