Anne Arundel County Reforestation Project Plants 1,800 Native Trees in Crownsville
Annapolis, Maryland (January 5, 2024) – Anne Arundel County recently partnered with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (the Alliance) to plant 1,800 native trees across a County-owned 10-acre field in Crownsville through the Alliance's "Healthy Forests, Healthy Waters" Program. Crews planted 15 different native species across the site, along with the installation of temporary protection shelters while the trees take root.
“Re-forestation projects like these represent an ideal coordination between sister government agencies and the non-profit sector to help the County meet its forest cover and water quality goals. Bacon Ridge Branch, the South River, and ultimately the Chesapeake, will all be benefitted by this work, and the local Crownsville community will be further beautified,” offered Erik Michelsen, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works.
The field, owned and managed by the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation & Parks, had previously been leased out to a local farmer, though the lease ultimately expired and the fields had been inactive for several years. The Alliance contracted Habitat Enhancers for site preparation and Shenandoah Habitats to plant the trees. Shenandoah Habitats completed the planting in an astonishing one day and will continue to provide maintenance for five years while the trees mature. The cost of this project was covered by the Department of Public Works Bureau of Watershed Protection & Restoration, and the project will generate water quality improvement credits toward the County's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit.
To learn more about the Alliance's Healthy Forests, Health Waters Program, visit https://www.allianceforthebay.
To learn more about the County's NPDES MS4 Permit, visit https://www.aacounty.org/
