The Bastrop County Commissioners Court signed another yearlong deal with the reforestation nonprofit TreeFolks on Monday, extending the county’s pine forest restoration efforts into its seventh year.

Over 6 million loblolly pine trees have been planted in the footprints of the 2011 Complex Fire and 2015 Hidden Pines Fire, which, as residents across the region recall, turned verdant forests into charred moonscapes.

Thanks to both natural and artificial forest regeneration, baby pines reach among the charred trunks still standing — largely due to TreeFolks. The nonprofit has planted trees on nearly 5,000 acres of decimated land, about 40 percent of all acreage replanted following the fires, according to data from the Texas Forest Service. Its work consists of both sapling planting events as well as providing forestry educational opportunities for private landowners. TreeFolks also distributes saplings to landowners affected by the fires to regenerate forest on their land.

On Monday, the Bastrop County Commissions Court approved $46,000 to aid TreeFolks' local efforts.

“This would be an opportunity for TreeFolks to continue making seedlings available to our citizens, and education about how to make those seedlings grow and keep them growing,” Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said.

The yearlong agreement between the county and TreeFolks will provide 25,000 loblolly pine seedlings and reforestation education free to landowners.

“Landowners affected by the 2015 Hidden Pines Fire, some of which have received reforestation services from TreeFolks in the past, will be a primary target for outreach and enrollment,” the contract reads.

The nonprofit will begin accepting applications for seedlings this month. Seedlings, which come in boxes of 100, are expected to arrive from the nursery in January. Deliveries will last until mid-March, and each delivery will include a handbook with tree planting and care information. A tree giveaway event will also be held in Bastrop where up to 5,000 seedlings will be distributed.

“We’re still handing out pines for people in a box of about 100 saplings, and we’re giving instructions on how to plant and provide planting service for those who can’t do it themselves,” said Andreina Alexatos, TreeFolks’ reforestation manager in charge of Bastrop, Hays and Travis counties.

Since 2012, the Texas Forest Service and TreeFolks have been going through similar annual cycles: taking orders in February, receiving them from the nursery in December or January, planting them through March, and then placing orders again for the next season.

“By continuing to distribute pines in Bastrop, our hope is to restore the Lost Pines to its former glory so that the residents of Bastrop County can once again live in a forest,” the organization says on its website.

TreeFolks expects to provide trees to about 150 landowners this year. The program has become crucial to the restoration of the Lost Pines as 75 percent of the burn area is privately owned.