Planting project seeking help

Volunteers needed to plant trees, restore stream health Saturday

About 425 loblolly pine, black locust and red bud bare-root seedlings will be planted at East-West Park, and Village Gate will receive about 200 container-grown trees between five and six feet in height.

Town staff will pre-dig holes for the trees, and volunteers will put the trees in the ground and backfill dirt and mulch around them, said Patty Williamson, a member of the town’s beautification committee and the local coordinator for the project.

The tree varieties will include 10 oak, northern red oak, persimmon, river birch, yellow poplar red maple and winter berry.

‘‘These are native trees and shrubs, and different areas will have different species,” said Kay Schultz with the Monacacy and Catoctin Watershed Alliance, the organization that is leading the planting efforts as part of a project to restore stream health.

‘‘All of the streams on the north side of Mount Airy are tributaries of the Woodville Branch, which feeds into Lake Linganore,” Schultz said, adding that current pollution levels in the lake are high, and that this water trickles down to be drunk by residents of Montgomery County and Washington, D.C.

This water also leads into the Chesapeake Bay and can affect the crabs, oysters and other wildlife there, she said. ‘‘Putting mud and fertilizer in the streams hurts everyone down stream.”

Schultz said plantings will decrease the amount of erosion caused by the force of rain, and absorb a lot of pollutants that could runoff into the water. The trees will provide additional habitats and food supply for wildlife as well as making the air cleaner by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

‘‘They also stabilize streambeds in the area, and they contribute to infiltration of rainwater,” she said. ‘‘Because the town relies on wells, they want more water to soak into the earth to replenish that.”

The trees and seedlings used for this planting were chosen because of their indigenous quality and because of the likelihood of their survival, Schultz said.

Planting efforts will not include installing protective shelters around the new vegetation, making them more susceptible to grazing animals such as deer, although Schultz said they took that into consideration and ‘‘our foresters have recommended species they don’t like to eat as much.”

Planting will begin at 9 a.m. in East-West Park before moving to Village Gate and then ending back in East-West Park at the second location. Parking will be available, and Williamson said there will be some signs to direct drivers.

Representatives from the Forestry Department will be on hand to provide instructions prior to the beginning of planting. ‘‘The Department of Natural Resources Forestry Department are going to supply us with digging bars and a demonstration on how to use them,” said Williamson.

She said the presentation will be useful to volunteers, although she said volunteers are welcome at any time.

‘‘They can volunteer however much time they want to,” Williamson said. ‘‘It should be a successful day.”

Volunteers should bring gloves and shovels as well as a bag lunch and water. The planting will take place rain or shine, and volunteers are asked to dress for the weather. There is no advance registration required. Questions can be directed to Patty Williamson at patty.williamson@adelphia.net.