D&R Greenway planted 800 trees last week for a riparian restoration along the Stony Brook, as more than 100 volunteers came out to help including trail neighbors and D&R Greenway trustees and stewardship volunteers.
Planted along the Pennington Loop Trail, the new trees and shrubs will filter storm water, improve water quality, and provide wildlife habitat.
Volunteers planted swamp white oak, river birch, ironwood, nannyberry viburnum, red-twig dogwood, winterberry and spicebush. Each plant has been individually protected with a grow tube to prevent damage from deer. A few visitors have said the rows of tree tubes look like a public art project, according to D&R Greenway staff.
D&R Greenway’s partner for this project was the Ernest Schwiebert Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Riparian restorations are funded through The Watershed Institute and The Nature Conservancy’s “Roots for Rivers” program.
Pennington Loop was one of two projects where volunteers planted more than 1,600 trees this month. This year, all volunteer work is being done in strict compliance with social distancing rules.
Submitted by D&R Greenway, which is always looking for volunteers for maintaining our trails and future reforestation projects. If you would like to be on their volunteer list, please email volunteer coordinator Karen Freundlich at [email protected].
Featured photo caption: D&R Greenway staff members (l-r) Maria Stahl, Tina Notas, and Bill Flemer provided guidance to 100+ volunteers at Pennington Loop Trail last week.
