This year, GVC has been helping Baltimore County with an innovative pilot initiative to plant new forest areas on residential land in rural areas of the county. Funded by a grant from the U.S. EPA--with no costs to participating neighborhoods and homeowners--the program is helping to protect clean water in the Loch Raven Reservoir by increasing the width of forest buffers next to streams and filtering runoff more thoroughly before it reaches drinking water sources.
In addition to the clean water objective, the program aims to connect fragmented forest patches, improve wildlife habitat, and help rural homeowners acquire the tools and knowledge they need to be good stewards of their land.
The project began earlier this year when GVC helped Baltimore County identify two appropriate neighborhoods and recruit a homeowner in each neighborhood to host an informational meeting.
Once a critical mass of homeowners in each neighborhood agreed to participate, forestry and landscaping experts from the County met with participating households in September to work out the planting details.
The first two neighborhoods to participate in the pilot are (1) a section of Bernoudy Road in Whitehall near Gunpowder Falls (just east of I-83 between Prettyboy Reservoir and Loch Raven), and (2) part of the Kimberly development (off Manor Road between Loch Raven and Jacksonville).
Planting of trees at Bernoudy Road began in early October and should start in late October at Kimberly. Once planting at each neighborhood is complete, GVC will work jointly with homeowners to develop a stewardship plan for the newly-planted forest areas.
The plantings this fall should total about 15-20 acres of trees. If project spending runs as planned, the grant may allow for one or two additional projects this spring.
