Link to You Tube Video on Milton Tree Planting
More Photos from the Milton Tree Planting Event are on Delaware Forest Service Facebook Page
The Delaware Forest Service and its new “Tree Stewards” program led more than 50 volunteers and town officials to plant 160 trees in Milton, Sussex County on Saturday, April 24. The trees will enhance the town’s hiking and biking trail near West Shore Drive, part of the DelDOT’s ongoing “Rails to Trails” project in Sussex County. Delaware’s urban and community forestry program funded the cost of the trees and provided technical assistance.
Milton Mayor Ted Kanakos, “This is magnificent. We probably have 50 volunteers, just taking a Saturday morning to beautify this area. It’s really a great feeling. Any project like this, no matter where it is, enhances the town.”
The tree planting also served as a hands-on project for the latest graduates of the new “Delaware’s Tree Stewards” program, which aims to train knowledgeable community tree advocates to increase tree canopy and transform their neighborhoods through the power of trees.
The City of Lewes parks administrator Janet Reeves is a recent graduate of the Delaware Tree Stewards training: “I’m here with the tree commissioner of the City of Lewes and we hope to take our knowledge and bring it back to our city and our parks and rec. commission so that we can enhance what we already have in the City of Lewes. We have over 900 inventoried trees, so we hope to take these skills back and help others have an understanding of proper tree planting and proper tree maintenance.”
Tree Stewards coordinator Sam Seo was happy with the day’s effort and the quality of the tree planting, “Tree Stewards is an opportunity for us to bring training and resources to Delawareans who want to improve their landscapes in their own neighborhood. By teaching things like how trees work, how to plant trees, how to develop tree projects – we’re really hoping to empower individuals and groups to take on those kinds of projects independently, and of course with the support of the Delaware Forest Service and many of our partners.”
Milton town resident Gwen Saucier, who turns 75 this year, was one of the day’s tree planting volunteers: “I believe we need to continue to replenish our land with trees… We’ve taken a lot away from our forestry and it’s time that this current generation pay back.”