Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Constellation Energy & MD DNR Promote Clean Air and Water with Reforestation Projects
January 2008 -- The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, in partnership with Constellation Energy and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, recently wrapped up a three-year Baltimore-area reforestation project that utilized the Alliance's signature RestoreCorps: Watershed Restoration Assistance Center program. This and other forest projects are critical parts of the Bay restoration effort, slowing the harmful effects of global warming and helping us clean our air and local waterways.
There is no land cover more beneficial to the Bay than trees and forests. Forests help by:
- Sequestering carbon dioxide
- Slowing and filtering runoff
- Providing habitat for wildlife
- Offering recreational opportunities
- Providing long term economic returns to landowners and local communities
- Helping maintain the integrity of stream channels and shorelines
The reforestation project began in 2005 at Moores Run in northeast Baltimore in collaboration with the Herring Run Watershed Association. Over a three-year period, the partnership between the Alliance and Constellation Energy has brought together several watershed organizations, such as the Prettyboy Watershed Alliance at Leister Park in Hampstead, Maryland, and the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy at Cloverland Farms in Baltimore .
This spring, volunteers will plant the final trees of the 75-acre riparian forest buffer planting project that began three years ago. Riparian forest buffers—areas of forested land adjacent to streams, rivers, marshes and shorelines—play an important role in maintaining the health of the Bay by sequestering carbon dioxide and absorbing polluted runoff before it can flow into the water. Upon completion, this reforestation project will capture between 4 and 4.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre per year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help improve the health of the Bay.
Learn how you can get involved and help the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay restore your local waterway.