P L E N T Y SUMMER 2019 Plenty Summer 2019-joomag copy | Page 45

GIVING
TREES
Montgomery Countryside Alliance’s
new program launched to accelerate
re-forestation in the County’s Reserve
B Y C A R O L I N E TA Y LO R
Executive Director, Montgomery Countryside Alliance
T
he Little Monocracy River ambles along
through Bev and Dick Thom’s 57-acre
farm in northern Montgomery County.
This is a working farm, hosting sheep
for fiber as well as providing highly
sought after affordable farm acreage for lease.
On this overcast spring afternoon a small
group, some schooled in identifying trees
and plants, some less species smart but
enthusiastic, gather to survey the prime
location for a pilot planting of several
acres of the property’s stream corridor
as part of a collaborative effort between
Montgomery Countryside Alliance and
Montgomery County Planning to re-forest
portions of the County’s 93,000 acre Agri-
cultural Reserve. Forests throughout the Re-
serve have thinned due to age, disease, drought,
floods, or harvesting over decades. The Re-Leaf pro-
gram barely was inked before a number of land owners
emerged with interest in participating. Planting trees,
it seems, is a welcome thing.
As the surveyors navigated the soft path between
river and watercress laden springs, they were heralded
by the cheerful ruckus of the spring peepers and wood
toads. Soon enough the musical magic gave way to the
not unexpected discovery of invasives­—plants such as
Japanese stilt grass and insects such as emerald ash
borer that have hitched their way from distant places
Left: Program Chair Carole Bergmann
shares tale of deer damage to new tree
plantings, stressing the need for deer
protection at the time of planting; above:
Gardens by Garth crew place the deer
guards after planting.
and are now squeezing out native species, signifi-
cantly damaging plant and wildlife diversity along the
way. Native pollinators, critical for food production,
have been hit particularly hard.
Lead by expert arborist and Re-leaf chair Carole
Bergmann, they pressed on, focused on finding good
ground that will support several hundred trees. Just
across the river Bergmann spies it—level and damp
but not submerged, not in production, and adjacent to
the river. Perfect. Bergmann notes the species that are
thriving elsewhere onsite with emphasis on those that
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