Here at Casey Trees, we understand the hard work that’s involved in getting new trees in the ground. The multi-step process of planning, mapping, procuring, and planting trees takes a team of passionate individuals who are dedicated to improving their local environment. That’s why we want to congratulate our friends over in Prince George’s County’s Department of Public Works & Transportation (DPW&T) for their monumental achievement of planting over 10,000 trees this year!
This milestone is achieved in the county’s current fiscal year, which ends next month in July, though the trees were planted during the dormant season – November 2022 through April 2023.
This is an amazing accomplishment! As DC and surrounding counties deal with recent canopy losses – PG county losing almost 7000 acres of canopy in between 2014 – 2018 – the newly planted trees will go a long way in restoring the canopy. The trees will continue to grow and make a positive impact on the community for years to come. The county plans to continue planting at this pace next year as well.
We recently spoke with a few people from Prince George’s County’s Department of Public Works & Transportation and their partners to hear more about their work in the community and learn how they hit these amazing planting goals.
Charlie Griffith, consultant and former Associate Director in the Office of Storm Drain Maintenance at Prince George’s County, was able to share with us how instrumental the Chesapeake Bay Trust has been in helping the county plant the 10,000 trees. “Their inventory grant gave the county an opportunity to expand and plant more trees than we have in past years. So, that was the impetus of pushing hard this year and taking advantage of the grant opportunities that existed.”
In addition to grant funding, Maryland state legislature voted to pass critical updates to the Forest Conservation Act to raise forest protection standards statewide and ensure the state experiences a net gain of trees in the coming years and decades. “Essentially, this legislation was passed to support urban forestry, which is the first time in a really long time anything like that has happened,” shared Wayne Lucas, 2022 Casey Trees Canopy Awards Honoree, landscape architect and County Arborist for PG County. “Normally those laws are mandated but not funded. But this time around they’re mandated and they’re funded.”
Wayne was also able to share with us that Casey Trees planted 500 of the 10,000 trees this year in Prince George’s County, work that we were only able to do with the help of grant funding! And of the 10,000, a grand majority of the trees are street trees, found in between the sidewalk and the street. This is an amazing feat, with over 2,000 miles of road in Prince George’s County, these new trees are crucial in providing shade to the public, as well as shade impervious surface (pavement) that perpetuates heat island effects.
We also had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Sprouls, who works as the Community Forestry Program Manager contracted to Prince George’s County DPW&T through the Neighborhood Design Center. The county doesn’t work from landscaping plans, meaning Jason and his forestry technician, Collin Breidenbach, have literally walked and marked all 10,000 sites in preparation for planting.
The planning and design are crucial to the success of planting 10,000 trees because although DPW&T hires contractors to plant, without having the actual physical locations pre-chosen as Jason and Collin did this year, there is no guarantee the trees would be going in the best spots for them to thrive. That planning is instrumental in the success of planting 10,000 trees.
Jason even shared a story about one of the plantings Casey Trees helped to make happen: “Someone from the Hillcrest Heights/Temple Hills area emailed us almost two years ago, wanting trees in his backyard, and at the time the county had no means to plant a tree on private property. By happenstance, I ended up re-connecting with him and with the help of Casey Trees, finally got him a Southern Magnolia in his yard. Subsequently, DPW&T was able to partner with the neighborhood and planted his whole neighborhood! Pretty funny that they asked for one tree, and they got 350.”
Another similarity that Casey Trees shares with the county is the understanding that not all areas have experienced tree equity in the past, so moving forward it’s important to target and plan trees for areas that have been historically neglected.
“Council district seven in the county is the one that runs along the Southern Avenue boundary of Washington, DC. Over the first decade of our program, we planted about 3,000 trees in that council district. This year alone – with the help of key community partners – we planted over 3,500 trees. DPW&T and NDC are trying to demonstrate meaningful interest and dedication to the historically disenfranchised areas of the county” Jason shared with us.
As for the future of tree planting in PG County, they keep their sights aimed high – “We’re going to aim for 10,000 to 11,000. We’re looking at every way that we can increase canopy coverage in equity zones and watersheds that have a lack or are not meeting their canopy goals,” Charlie shared. “With that in mind, trees, we all know, provide stormwater benefits as well as other huge advantages. There’s also a plethora of opportunities right now… it’s a wonderful thing that trees have come into focus. Years ago this could not happen… But now, now things are really looking up in terms of support for our industry.”
