The Lebanon Valley Conservancy board members and their families planted 50 trees over the weekend at the Quittapahilla Educational Wetland Preserve on the property of the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center.
This project was part of the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership, which has a goal to plant 10 million trees in the state by 2025 to improve conditions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The partnership provides PA landowners and organizations with native tree seedlings to plant.
Jon Schach, board president of the Lebanon Valley Conservancy, said the area has been pretty “let go” over the years. Because it’s the headwaters of the Quittapahilla, improving the land can have wide-ranging downstream benefits.
“To have this in a naturalized space and not channelized, it does a lot for flood control and wildlife habitat,” he said.
Ron Birch, TLVC board treasurer, said the organization’s main goal is “preserving open-air spaces.” This can include preserving forests and farmlands or replacing invasive species with natives.
“This is not our biggest initiative, but it’s one of the initiatives we like to push and let the community know that we’re doing it,” he said of the tree planting.
The conservancy has planted over 1,000 trees since 2019, according to its website.
The CTC land where the planting took place is covered in invasive callery pear trees, but the new plants — American sycamore, red alder, swamp white oak and red oak — are native to the area. Each tree was planted with a stake, a tube and netting to protect it and support its growth until it’s bigger.
The area was dry and tough for volunteers to dig, but during other seasons, it’s a depression that regularly floods.
“I know oftentimes you drive by here, there’ll be birds that are migratory birds that’ll pass through and there’s a water area, which is a great opportunity for wildlife,” Schach said.
He also works with the horticulture students at the CTC, and he said the area will be an ongoing project for the group.
“We’ll be coming down here next month, cutting down some more pears and doing a little bit more planting,” he said. “It’s going to be a process that unfolds over time. It’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of pears.”
For Schach, the project is satisfying and the changes can be seen immediately.
“When I started looking around and seeing tubes, how fast they go in, it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “There’s such a return because this is a spot that people can come back to over the years. I’ve planted trees for 30 years and to see what they become is very gratifying.”
Read More: Quittie wetlands bypasses development pressure, but takes hit during pandemic
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