County Residents More Than Double Tree Planting Goal: Olszewski

TOWSON, MD - Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski has announced that local residents have far exceeded expectations for the county's reforestation program, in which property owners were asked to plant trees to help the environment. Additionally, Olszewski announced further programs designed to increase the county's tree canopy.

In a press release coinciding with Earth Week (April 20-22), Earth Day (April 22) and coming just ahead of Arbor Day (April 30), Olszewski said more than 215 property owners had planted more than 11,000 trees since he announced a county-wide initiative to increase the county’s tree canopy last fall. Olszewski’s goal had been 5,000 new trees.

"Our residents and property owners stepped up in a big way to plant 11,000 trees, which will remove more than a half-million pounds of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere every single year," Olszewski said. "Plus, scientific studies suggest that neighborhood trees in urbanized areas reduce air pollution and correlate with health benefits including reductions in respiratory illnesses, diabetes and cardiovascular disease; as well as helping reduce people's stress and bringing down summer air temperatures."

To celebrate the tree-planting accomplishment, the Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability (EPS) will host a tree giveaway on April 30 and May 1, at the Center for Maryland Agricultural and Farm Park in Cockeyesville, 1114 Shawan Road.

Open to Baltimore County residents only, the giveaway allows each resident to order up to five trees through the county website. According to a release, 400 trees already had been ordered by Monday, and just 250 remained.

The county is offering native Maryland trees, like: Sycamore, Black Gum, Serviceberry, Northern Red Oak, Pin Oak, Eastern Redbud, Red Maple and White Oak.

Residents who plant these trees also are invited to record their locations on the county's "Environmental Reporter" web app, an online tool that helps the county track environmental data, including locations where people plant trees and install rain barrels.

Additionally, county landowners can apply for trees to be planted for free next fall through the county’s Backyard Trees and Turf to Trees programs.

The Backyard Trees program requires a minimum planting area of just one-tenth of an acre and was created to make reforestation more accessible to homeowners with less than an acre of available land.

The Turf to Trees program is for larger tracks of open land, and it includes 200 trees planted per acre to create rural reforestations.

More information is available on the county website.