USA/Sunday Feature—
By Danielle Smith, producer, Keystone State News Service, a bureau of Public News Service.
A Pennsylvania partnership is marking a major milestone by planting its 10 millionth tree in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
A celebration this spring in Hummelstown marks eight years of work to improve water quality and restore streamside habitats across Pennsylvania’s portion of the watershed. The Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership launched in 2018 to plant 10 million trees across the state’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Led by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the effort has grown to include more than 320 partners helping to plant native trees and shrubs statewide.
Julia Krall, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-Pennsylvania, says trees are an affordable and accessible way for landowners and residents to support the environment, strengthen communities, and improve quality of life.
“As we’re looking at some of the environmental impacts and why we started this in the first place, really, trees are such a good filter, and they help to absorb and slow down polluted runoff from rainstorms,” Krall explained. “Their roots help to stabilize stream banks.”
Krall noted that planting the milestone tree in Hummelstown reflects the work that communities across Pennsylvania have done to improve green spaces, recognize the importance of trees, and replace lost trees.
“We are helping to ensure that a local community has a new tree in place that they can watch grow and maintain in a place where one that could have been a detriment to the community had been previously,” she emphasized.
Krall added that the 10 millionth tree may mark the completion of the campaign, but restoration work across the Chesapeake Bay watershed will continue.
Partners, including state agencies and conservation organizations, plan to expand tree canopy projects and stream restoration efforts in the years ahead.
