Plant & Be
Counted!
Marylanders Plant
Trees
“He who plants a tree…Plants a hope.”
Lucy Larcom, "Plant a Tree"
When it
comes to decreasing our negative impact on the planet and reaping a whole
litany of personal and public benefits,
Citing the
importance of trees to our environment, our quality of life – and even our
pocketbooks – last fall Governor Martin O’Malley offered up a commitment and a
challenge: The State of Maryland has committed to a program to plant one
million new trees by 2011. And the Governor is challenging
“All
things being equal, forests are by far our most strategically important natural
resource,” says Governor O’Malley. “In addition to protecting water quality,
cleaning our air and providing wildlife habitat, one large tree can eliminate
5,000 gallons of stormwater runoff annually, and well placed trees can help
reduce energy costs by 15 to 35 percent.”
Through
Marylanders Plant Trees -- a new program under the Governor’s Smart, Green
& Growing initiative -- State agencies are partnering with businesses,
communities and citizens to help fund and plant new tree cover. The program offers
Appropriately
enough, the $480,000 being used to initially fund the program is part of a $4.6
billion regional settlement by a major power generator for clean air act
violations. Provided through a
cooperative agreement with the Office of the Attorney General and the Maryland
Department of the Environment, this income from environmental fines must be
used for environmental projects – like tree planting -- that benefit air
quality. For each $25 coupon redeemed,
the State will reimburse participating businesses $20; those businesses have
generously agreed to absorb the additional $5 value of the coupon.
So in
addition to providing citizens with a terrific discount, this program will be putting
money straight back into Maryland’s economy – helping keep businesses going and
workers employed.
From
advice on what, where and how to purchase and plant, to printable coupons and
calculating benefits, citizens will find just about everything they need at the
Marylanders Plant Trees Website. Participants are asked to register and site
the trees being planted on our interactive map, so we can track our progress.
Governor
O’Malley introduced the Marylanders Plant Trees program –in fall of last
year with a goal of planting 50,000 new trees by 2010, and Marylanders have
heeded the challenge: nearly 17,000 new trees have been planted and registered
to date.
To add
incentive to the program, DNR will be giving away prizes every month, by a
random drawing of those who register their trees. The donated prizes include
overnight stays at the Rocky Gap Resort, yacht tours, Christmas trees and State
Park passes. In cooperation with participating nurseries, the program also
continues to offer coupon toward
the purchase of native trees costing $50 or more, and redeemable at nearly 70
nurseries across the State.
“Fall is
an ideal time to plant a tree,” said DNR Secretary John Griffin. “Planting
after the leaves drop gives trees the chance to really take root through
winter, to prepare for spring when they bud. It may take only a few hours to
plant the tree, but the impact lasts for many, many years.”
Trees help
clean the air, conserve soil and water and moderate temperature. They can
improve property values by as much as 20 percent and reduce energy consumption.
Planting a
tree is one more way that
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose
shade you do not expect to sit.”
Nelson Henderson
