Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is inviting volunteers to three different tree plantings in Maryland this fall to bolster shorelines along streams.
The following volunteer tree plantings are scheduled:
Saturday, Oct. 16
Grace Creek planting – Talbot County
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Event registration
CBF is in need of volunteers to help plant about 630 native trees and shrubs on a farm along Grace Creek. The creek is a tributary of the Choptank River. The planting is in partnership with ShoreRivers and is being funded through the WGL Energy/ Sterling Planet Carbon Reduction Fund as well as the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Wednesday, Oct. 27
Glenstone Museum plantings – Montgomery County
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Morning event registration
Afternoon event registration
Glenstone, an art museum in Montgomery County, is partnering with CBF, schools, and community groups to learn about trees and how to plant them. Glenstone associates will be available to answer questions about art, architecture and nature. Each planting session—the morning and afternoon—are limited to 20 volunteers. RSVP is required to attend this event.
Saturday, Oct. 30
Middle Creek planting – Frederick County
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Event registration
Volunteers are needed to assist CBF staff with planting more than 800 native trees on shrubs along Middle Creek in Middletown to help improve the health of Catoctin Creek and its watershed. Funding for the planting was provided by the WGL Energy/ Sterling Planet Carbon Reduction Fund and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
About the plantings:
Each planting this year will add trees along vulnerable stream shorelines in Maryland, a conservation practice known as riparian buffers. Riparian buffers help prevent soil erosion and the new trees naturally filter Chesapeake Bay pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The trees also reduce the amount of fertilizer, manure, and pesticides that wash off land when it rains.
Planting riparian buffers helps Maryland reach its Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint goals. The state is required to meet pollution reduction goals as part of the regional effort to clean up the Bay as well as the rivers and streams that flow through its watershed. Buffers can reduce nitrogen runoff by 128 pounds per acre and phosphorus by 26 pounds per acre, according to the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
The trees also provide new habitat to wildlife and help shade the stream, which cools the water and benefits aquatic life.
Bay watershed states agreed to add about 900 miles of riparian buffers per year, but have not reached that goal in any year between 2010 and 2019, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program. On average, the states have accounted for about 245 miles of riparian buffers planted per year during that time.
From 2010 to 2019, Maryland added about 227 miles of riparian buffers or about 22 miles per year. The total is just a 3 percent increase from the 7,250 miles of riparian buffers that were already in place at the beginning of 2010.
Native tree and shrub species that will be planted at the events include maples, oaks, birch trees, dogwoods, serviceberries, sycamores, chokeberries, alders, persimmon, redbuds, and others.
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