Scouts and Conservation -- a Good Turn and a Job Well Done

A Community Tree Planting Project with Cub ScoutPack/Boy Scout Troop 759 from Ashton, MD

In November 2011, Conservation Montgomery partnered with a local Cub Scout pack, the Montgomery County Planning Department, and Bethesda-based Finmarc Management, Inc. to organize a community tree-planting project. It was the first use of a new GIS mapping tool that allows the county to target areas where tree canopy is lowest and plant new trees in those areas.  Using information from the high-resolution Tree Canopy Assessment Tool developed by the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Laboratory, Conservation Montgomery and Cub Scout Pack 759 planted eight trees in the Montgomery Hills section of Silver Spring.  The area has been identified as the urban area of the county with the lowest percentage of tree canopy, at only 8%.  The Montgomery Planning Department partnered with the City of Takoma Park earlier this year to purchase the data using funds from a Department of Energy grant set up to analyze land cover in the Baltimore corridor.  The Planning Department was able to acquire the data at a fraction of the typical cost.

Tree canopy should be analyzed regularly to set goals in master plans, site plans and watersheds.  The assessment will provide planners and administrators of the county Forest Conservation Law with information to prioritize tree planting efforts on public and private land.

“The tree canopy assessment allows us to target sections of the county where trees are needed most to improve air quality, mitigate the impacts of climate change and contribute to better water quality in local streams and creeks,” said Katherine Nelson, an environmental planner who has led the data acquisition project for the Planning Department.  “We hope this is the first of many community planting projects in the county.”

According to the canopy study, Montgomery Hills, the Silver Spring central business district and parts of Bethesda have the lowest percentages of tree cover.  A future project to replant trees in the newly redeveloped Downtown Silver Spring is in planning stages.  Mark Buscaino, Conservation Montgomery board member and Casey Trees Executive Director, said the tree canopy data product has been used successfully in Washington, D.C., Prince Georges County, and in Takoma Park, Rockville, Baltimore City, Philadelphia and New York City.
Boy Scout Cub Pack 759 from Ashton approached Conservation Montgomery recently to volunteer for a community service project that will offer the scouts a chance to learn more about the environment. 

The day began with a “Trees 101” session led by arborist Brett Linkletter, who manages the County street tree program, and Ms. Nelson.   The scouts and their parents learned how to plant a tree properly so that the tree will thrive and about the importance of trees in urban communities.   Students from the University of Maryland volunteered to work with the younger boys to help fill in pre-dug holes and widen the spaces for the root balls of the trees. Four sugar maple trees and four red maples were donated by Ace Tree Movers and Mike Rubin, Chair of Montgomery Countryside Alliance, a Conservation Montgomery partner organization.  The project was supported with equipment and service donated by Ace Tree Movers in Montgomery County.  Rubin also serves on the board of directors of Conservation Montgomery.

Finmarc Management approved the Conservation Montgomery project to plant native trees on parking lot islands in the Seminary Shopping Center, a strip center located just inside the Beltway on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring in a densely populated mixed-use area.  Data from the canopy assessment showed the shopping center as a prime tree planting location.

“We’re pleased to be a part of this community project,” said Julie Florian, who manages the Seminary Place Shopping Center for Finmarc. “The new trees will enhance the appearance of the shopping center and will have environmental benefits for the community.”  Finmarc provides management services for retail, office, and warehouse projects.  The company portfolio consists of 5 million square feet of space in the metro Washington, DC area.