Dozens of companies?EUR??,,????'??+large and small?EUR??,,????'??+continue to take part in the massive effort. Giant AshBritt, Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., for example, is working on cleanup in its home state and in Mississippi and Louisiana. The environmental services firm has what may be the biggest debris-hauling contract in U.S. history?EUR??,,????'??+a deal worth $1.1 billion. (A portion of many bigger contracts are being subbed-out to smaller companies.)

A rough estimate puts total debris in the Gulf states at close to 100 million cubic yards, with Florida (Wilma) debris piled up about one-tenth that.
In early November, some areas outside New Orleans were still ?EUR??,,????'??off limits and uninhabitable,?EUR??,,????'?? said Jack Swayze of Davey Tree.

?EUR??,,????'??The initial storm cleanup will take many months to another year-plus,?EUR??,,????'?? he told LCN. ?EUR??,,????'??The long-term work?EUR??,,????'??+the cabling, bracing and pruning to re-grow tree form?EUR??,,????'??+will take years.?EUR??,,????'??

The blow dealt to the region?EUR??,,????'???s trees has been a little-covered part of the story, given the magnitude of human suffering. Arborists and maintenance people, however, know that a long road to recovery lies ahead for the area?EUR??,,????'???s arboreal life forms.

Hurricane Alecia, which walloped Houston in 1983, gives some perspective on the tree timeline in coming years. Corrective pruning went on for more than six years after the Texas storm.