On January 15, CNH Industrial’s New Holland, Lancaster County site announced a special partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to establish a riparian buffer along the stream on the grounds of New Holland’s North American headquarters.

CNH Industrial, New Holland’s parent company, will be planting over 2,000 trees and shrubs across 8.5 acres of its campus in New Holland.

Through this new partnership, CNH Industrial continues its commitment to sustainable agriculture and responsible land management

This planting will greatly contribute to Pennsylvania’s pollutant load reductions and will contribute to Lancaster County’s goal of planting 6000 new acres of forest buffer by 2025.

A riparian forest buffer is an area of native trees and shrubs along a stream. The main purpose of a riparian forest buffer is to improve water quality and stream bank resilience, both of which improve local soil health, provide essential pollinator and wildlife habitat, and positively impact the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay.

These goals make this unique partnership even more key to supporting and achieving the state’s and the county’s water quality goals.

“This 8.5 acre riparian forest buffer will be quite large for Lancaster County, and will really help improve the stream that it will surround,” said the Alliance’s Chesapeake Forestry Program Manager, Ryan Davis. “The project is also excellent for the cause; New Holland is a trusted name in agriculture, and their demonstrated stance on stewardship of our streams sets a great example for our farming community.”

The Alliance has provided guidance to New Holland and CNH Industrial by defining and explaining the benefits of a riparian forest buffer. This includes how to plant and establish a buffer, the best native trees and shrubs to plant at the New Holland site, and how to effectively and efficiently maintain the buffer for maximum water quality and wildlife habitat benefits.

“Trees are an important tool in our fight against the climate crisis. We have a great opportunity on our New Holland campus to fill the non-farmed area with trees. These trees will improve the water quality flowing through the tributary and into the Chesapeake Bay, as well as make a small improvement to the air quality in Lancaster County. I’m thankful to CNH Industrial and the Alliance for enthusiastically supporting this partnership,” said Scott Simmons, CNH Industrial Project Engineer, who leads the riparian forest project at the New Holland campus.

Click Here for a short video on the project.

More information is available on programs, initiatives and special events on the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay website.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Alliance, Like the Alliance on Facebook, Follow them on Twitter, and visit the Alliance’s YouTube Channel.  Click Here to support the Alliance’s work.

Also visit the Lancaster County Clean Water Partners website to learn more about how you can join the Clean And Clear Water initiative.

PA Chesapeake Bay Plan

For more information on how Pennsylvania plans to meet its Chesapeake Bay cleanup obligations, visit DEP’s PA’s Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan webpage.

Click Here for a summary of the steps the Plan recommends.

How Clean Is Your Stream?

DEP’s Interactive Report Viewer allows you to zoom in on your own stream or watershed to find out how clean your stream is or if it has impaired water quality using the latest information in the draft 2020 Water Quality Report.

Related Articles - Extension:

-- Penn State Extension Water Cooler Talk - Installing And Maintaining Forest Buffers Jan. 27 Webinar

-- Penn State Extension 5-Part Backyard Stream Repair Webinars

Conservation Leadership:

-- 26 More Counties Take The Lead In Developing Local Clean Water Action Plans In PA Portion Of Chesapeake Bay Watershed

-- Miller Family, Mountain Watershed Assn. Partner To Protect 21 Acres Of Land In Fayette County

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission To Mark 50th Anniversary Of Basin Compact In 2021

-- Susquehanna Greenway Partnership: Small Communities Becoming More Desirable In COVID Pandemic

--DCNR Good Natured Pennsylvanians: Joe Graci, Fmr DCNR Director Of Legislative Affairs

[Posted: January 18, 2021]

1/25/2021