THE LEAFLET

Even the cooler weather couldn’t stop us as we began the spring planting season at American University two weeks ago. For the second year, the workshop was split into concurrent classes, one for Team Leader candidates and one for homeowners. This allowed us to divide and conquer as we planted 31 trees at the center of campus along Nebraska Avenue.

The morning team leader session was designed for people who want to be Citizen Forester Team Leaders, and they spent the morning with games, a skit, and trivia to test their tree planting skills. All so they’re equipped to lead future Community Tree Planting events in their red vests. The morning residential planting session equipped any Tom, Dick, or Harry to plant and maintain trees in their yard.

It was a great start to the season, and we continued to plant at Dumbarton Oaks Park this past Saturday. Our volunteers braved the chilly temps once again to help continue to restore, reforest, and perform erosion control by planting 101 trees around the stream and hillside that was previously covered with invasive plants. This is the third round of reforestation that Casey Trees has completed in the Upper Stream Valley location: the first on was in April 2016, the second in November 2016.

The Tree Planting Workshop and the Dumbarton Oaks Community Tree Planting were a terrific way to open the 2017 planting season. We can’t wait to see more volunteers throughout the spring to help us reach our 40 percent canopy goal by 2032.