American Chestnut Seedling Planting
The Calvert County Forestry Board is partnering with the American Chestnut Land Trust to plant 50 American Chestnut seedlings as part of the State's program to bring back the species. ACLT volunteers are in the process of clearing 1/6th of an acre for the planting. The seedlings will be picked up at the Ranger Station in Baltimore County on 4/24/15 and we have scheduled the planting for 4/26/15. The planting will be done by community volunteers under the direction of the Land Manager of ACLT (who is a Calvert Forestry Board member) and several other Forestry Board members, including our DNR secretary. The roots will be dipped in Terra-sorb before planting and 4' tree tubes will be installed on all trees. Each tree will have a 25 gallon slow-release watering bag around it.
Regular maintenance will include mowing around the trees, manual weed control and the filling of the watering bags when needed. The measuring of the trees and the logging of survival rates will be done by Calvert High School students. We hope to have both the planting day and the measuring activities covered by the local press in order to highlight this important conservation effort. ACLT and the Calvert Forestry Board will post updates of the Chestnuts' health on their websites.
The planting was funded in part by a Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service and Maryland Forestry Foundation Mel Noland Challenge Grant, which required matching funds by the Calvert County Forestry Board. Volunteer hours are expected to reach close to 200 overall and are valued at over $2000.00. These hours were crucial in our grant application and will be greatly appreciated.
In appreciation for the volunteer hours donated to this project, we plan to hold a pizza party for all volunteers in the October time frame. The maintenance of the chestnut stand and the student monitoring of their growth is expected to continue well into the near future.
Regular maintenance will include mowing around the trees, manual weed control and the filling of the watering bags when needed. The measuring of the trees and the logging of survival rates will be done by Calvert High School students. We hope to have both the planting day and the measuring activities covered by the local press in order to highlight this important conservation effort. ACLT and the Calvert Forestry Board will post updates of the Chestnuts' health on their websites.
The planting was funded in part by a Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service and Maryland Forestry Foundation Mel Noland Challenge Grant, which required matching funds by the Calvert County Forestry Board. Volunteer hours are expected to reach close to 200 overall and are valued at over $2000.00. These hours were crucial in our grant application and will be greatly appreciated.
In appreciation for the volunteer hours donated to this project, we plan to hold a pizza party for all volunteers in the October time frame. The maintenance of the chestnut stand and the student monitoring of their growth is expected to continue well into the near future.
Before Clearing
During Planting
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After Clearing
During Planting
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After Planting - The Finished Product