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Local youth to plant 16,200 trees

It is a spring tradition deeply rooted in the Otonabee region watershed community.

More than 860 local youth and private landowners, ready with spade in hand, will plant 16,200 trees this Spring as part of the Trees Project of Otonabee Conservation and the Otonabee Conservation Foundation.

“The Trees Project is an environmental conservation and education program offered by the Conservation Authority in partnership with the Otonabee Conservation Foundation,” explains John Williams, Manager of Conservation Lands with Otonabee Conservation.

“Each tree is a little environmental cleaning station. The rootlets hold and consolidate the soil preventing erosion. The leaves absorb greenhouse gases and release life-giving oxygen to the atmosphere. The new forest provides habitat for wildlife and birds. And, is itself a major filter and cleansing system for water that soaks into the ground and feeds our wells and underground water systems.”

Scouts from the Kawartha Waterways Area along with students from Crestwood Secondary School, Lakefield College School, Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School, St. Peter’s Secondary, Adam Scott Collegiate, Kenner Collegiate and Lakefield District High School will plant a variety of trees and shrubs on private properties, conservation land and school grounds.

The trees and shrubs selected for each site match the soil type and drainage characteristics. They are native to this region and include red oak, red pine, silver maple, eastern white cedar, white pine and white spruce.

The 2008 Spring tree planting program is sponsored by Otonabee Conservation, the Otonabee Conservation Foundation, the Peterborough County Stewardship Council, the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation, Kawartha Waterways Area Scouts and private landowners.

Landowners interested in participating in Otonabee Conservation’s tree planting program next year are asked to call John Williams at the Otonabee Conservation Centre at (705) 745-5791.

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