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It’s the bee’s knees: asphalt-free, brand-new trees!
Arundel Rivers is partnering with the Village of Middle Cove, Heritage Harbour, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the Anne Arundel County Department of Forestry, and the Anne Arundel County Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration, and Resource Restoration Group, LLC to remove 13,000 square feet of dilapidated asphalt– impervious surface which formerly served as a recreation area for Village of Middle Cove residents. If you’re reading this article on the date of publication– the last of the asphalt is being hauled away as you read.
In place of the unused tennis courts, once crowded with brazen, invasive Bradford pear trees, Arundel Rivers and our partners will be planting over 300 native trees this year, including three oak species, species that produce year-round color, and species like Diospyros virginiana (persimmon) and Amelanchier canadensis (serviceberry), which produce food that both humans and our native animal neighbors eat. Community volunteers will also be planting scores of native flowers to complement the tree planting and expand the habitat and pollinator value of the site. This afforestation-pollinator haven will span the acre on which the tennis courts currently sit.
Why afforestation? Afforestation, aka the process of establishing tree cover where, recently, there was none, is an environmental restoration strategy with many benefits. The trees provide habitat and nourishment for critters and smaller plants, they filter and soak up polluted runoff, and they generate cooling shade as they grow, an ever-urgent necessity as we experience extreme heat and urban heat islands due to climate change. Located in the heart of the Village of Middle Cove and Heritage Harbour communities, this afforestation effort will provide a physical home for our nonhuman neighbors and cooling solace for our communities.
This project was funded by two grants facilitated by the Chesapeake Bay Trust: the Anne Arundel County Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration “Watershed Restoration” grant program, and the Anne Arundel County Department of Forestry “Forestry and Forested Land Protection” grant program. The work was identified by the community, for the sake of the community, with help from a local master watershed steward.