October 2023 Issue

Page 36 October 2023 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Coming in the Winter issue! TWO advertising features! Winter Ready and Holiday Gift Guide To advertise or for more information, call (717) 509-9800. www.eastcoastequestrian.net K10 Offers Free Native Trees, Planting Help, to Pennsylvania Farms choose from a wide variety of native tree species that will do the most good — whether that’s holding a streambank in place, maintaining a productive stream- side forest, cleaning water, or providing shade for livestock. They will also provide access to local tree planting partners, educational programs, and vol- unteers to maintain the planted trees. Trees can be costly to plant and maintain. But, current tree-planting grants are available, giving you a unique opportunity for a positive return on invest- ment. Many PA counties also offer technical assistance, including grant funding for streamside preparation, planting, main- tenance, and incentive fund- ing. Farm owners can request free trees and planting help at tenmilliontrees.org/contact/ farmers/. Why Trees? There are thousands of miles of waterways in Pennsylvania, many leading to one of our most storied rivers, the Susquehanna, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. But a Pennsylvania Depart- ment of Environmental Protec- tion (DEP) Integrated Water Quality Report in 2022 found that one-third of the state’s streams and waterways didn’t meet water quality standards for water sup- ply, recreation, aquatic life, and fish consumption. Pennsylvania, along with Maryland, New York, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, joined a partnership in 2010 committed to restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay by 2025 by cutting pol- lution to the minimum levels that would restore balance in the Bay. In order achieve that critical goal, organizations monitoring and protecting the waterways feeding into the Bay must be involved. The Chesa- peake Bay Foundation added support to K10 to ensure that Pennsylvania would meet the commitments made in 2010. Trees? Is there some kind of magic there? According to Margaret Rohde, Conservation Manager at Wissahickon Trails, “trees are the keys to everything that makes the environment healthy. They bring joy, nest- ing space, habitat.” In addition, trees provide food for wildlife. Wissahickon Trails is a conserva- tion organization that has worked for more than 60 years in the Wissahickon Valley Watershed. They’ve planted hundreds of trees from K10 and even offer trees to their volunteers as a way of thanking them for their work. Trees help filter pollutants from the air, help farms retain topsoil, provide unforgettable displays of color in the fall to the delight of “leaf-peepers” everywhere. The workhorses of the environment, “trees naturally reduce polluted runoff and stabi- lize streambanks, supercharging our streams’ ability to cleanse themselves of pollution. Buf- fers planted along stream sides have been proven to increase a stream’s ability to process nutri- ents and organic matter itself by up to eight times.” That, accord- ing to K10, is the superpower of trees. In a nutshell. Where Do the Trees Come From? It turns out that K10 is a true partnership, in that everyone benefits from it. The organiza- tion contracts with local nurs- eries to grow native trees for the program. And the trees are given to the groups and indi- viduals—farmers, homeowners, volunteers—to plant. Support for the program comes from sever- al sources, including through a $3 check-off on Pennsylvania’s Driver’s License renewals. Additional funding comes from various initiatives in the state’s Growing Greener pro- gram, such as the Clean Streams Fund and through the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Because the ultimate goal is improving and protecting the Chesapeake Bay, areas of the state within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed have priority when ordering trees. But there are plen- ty of trees to go around outside the boundaries of the Watershed and several other conservation groups actively participate in the program. Another Montgomery County organization, the Perki- omen Watershed Conservancy is in the midst of their annual Plant-a-Thon, during which volunteers will be planting 10,000 trees, shrubs and peren- nials throughout the Watershed. The Plant-a-Thon runs through November. Engagement Equals Empowerment To say that K10 is far-reach- ing is an understatement. As the group strives to engage as many data points as possible, they’ve developed intriguing and excit- ing opportunities. NASA has a program called Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) that brings students into space-based measurement of various fea- tures on earth. NASA launched ICESat-2 in 2018. Through a system of lasers, the satellite can measure the height of assort- ed structures and even trees on the earth. K10 is utilizing GLOBE to measure the height of the tree canopy in Pennsyl- vania and to track the changes. GLOBE’s many attributes, and the program’s accessibility have provided compelling classroom activities for students throughout the U.S. Here on earth organizations as diverse as Trout Unlimited, the Audubon Society, and rails- to-trails groups have embraced K10’s mission and have planted hundreds of thousands of trees. K10 encourages corporations and businesses of all sizes to become sponsors and help fund the effort. It’s a hands-on com- mitment to an ambitious plan that will truly benefit everyone. As Terry Tempest Williams reminds us, “what we choose to do with our privilege as a species is up to us.” To find out more about K10, check their website: tenmilliontrees.org. (Continued from page 12)