The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is working with Franklin County and DCNR as part of the Trees for Tomorrow Program, a county-wide effort to plant 150,000 new trees in the Franklin County, and are partnering on two Buffer in a Box and Backyard Trees Workshops on September 6 and 10.

Franklin County homeowners are invited to attend a workshop to learn about the benefits of planting native trees and how they are important for local water quality. Registered attendees will be provided a box of about 20 free native trees and shrubs to take home and plant on their own property.

The first workshop will be held at Wilson College on September 6 at 9:00 a.m. and will begin with classroom presentations (meet in Room 128 of the Brooks Science Center), followed by a tour of the college’s McKee Green riparian buffer, which was planted in April of this year.

Attendees will see firsthand what a newly established tree planting looks like, and learn about the project’s planning and design. The workshop will last approximately 2 hours.

The second workshop will be held at the Greencastle Borough Town Hall Building (60 N Washington St) on September 10 at 6:30 p.m. This workshop will cover the same material discussed at Wilson College, but will not include a site tour and will last approximately an hour and a half.

The workshops will introduce Franklin County’s Trees for Tomorrow program and discuss ways in which homeowners can participate in the initiative. Representatives from the County’s Conservation District, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, and Wilson College are partnering with the Alliance on these workshops and will be presenting information and be available to answer questions.

Trees, when planted on or near a stream bank, filter out air and water pollution; hold onto bank soil tightly with strong roots, and shades water to keep Pennsylvania’s trout streams cool.  Trees planted in urban areas, in back yards also provide wildlife habitat, economic benefits to homeowners, and absorb and filter stormwater runoff.

Printed literature detailing each of the species being handed out and methods to best care for the plants will also be provided.

The Alliance is being funded through grants received from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds to provide technical and financial assistance to homeowners and local governments to accelerate the adoption of tree plantings throughout the Conococheague Watershed in Franklin County.

In addition to providing assistance to homeowners, the Alliance has funded tree plantings in Chambersburg, including the Wilson College planting. The Alliance is in planning stages to plant trees in more parks in Chambersburg, as well as Greene, Guilford, Antrim, and other townships in Franklin County.

For more information and to register for the workshop, visit the Alliance For The Chesapeake Bay website, or contact Kim Slaughter, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay Pennsylvania Project Assistant by sending email to: kslaughter@allianceforthebay.org or call 717-737-8622 x2. 

8/18/2014