{"id":12911,"date":"2025-04-23T16:11:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T20:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/?p=12911"},"modified":"2025-12-11T12:05:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T17:05:27","slug":"maryland-forest-service-joins-umes-for-earth-day-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/sans-monthly-digest\/maryland-forest-service-joins-umes-for-earth-day-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Forest Service joins UMES for Earth Day celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Earth Day 2025 started out with the proverbial April shower, but quickly cleared to a brilliant, sunny spring day in time for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore\u2019s observance. Each year, the university enlists the help of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service<\/a> for a tree planting to maintain its designation as an Arbor Day Foundation Tree Campus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo years ago, Bradford pear trees stood behind us,\u201d said Stephanie Stotts<\/strong> (below, at left)<\/em>, an associate professor of forest ecology at UMES. \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever been around them, you\u2019ll notice that they have a potent unpleasant smell. They are also an invasive species and can cause environmental harm. Today, we are replacing them with a native tree, a current focus in forestry that benefits the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Stotts is leading the charge in the university becoming a certified arboretum not only for the enjoyment and ecological benefits of trees but as a hub for community education and industry professional training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By planting an Eastern redbud in its place, the campus community can still enjoy beautiful spring blooms but without the problems associated with invasive species, said Matthew Hurd<\/strong> (below clockwise, center at left)<\/em> , eastern regional forester with Maryland DNR Forest Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurd has been on hand the past four years to help facilitate and procure a tree for the campus celebration. This year\u2019s installation was preceded by different varieties of red maples and a seedling cloned from the state\u2019s historic Wye Oak that stood in Wye Mills, Maryland, for 400 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThis is a nice culmination to what we like to refer to as Arbor Month, since we observe Arbor Day at the national level on the last Friday of April and the first Wednesday for the state,\u201d Hurd said. \u201cWhen UMES signed on as a Tree Campus, it was the first year for any historically Black college in Maryland and among only a few HBUCs nationally with the designation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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 For members of UMES\u2019 student Environmental Science Association like Sarah Rawlinson<\/strong> (far right)<\/em>, it is also a special day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, we plant more than a tree \u2014 we plant action, awareness and responsibility. Just as this tree will grow and shape its environment, so will we through science, education and community,\u201d said the junior majoring in environmental science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event proved to be a learning experience for some of the onlookers as Jarrett Hoskins<\/strong> (above, left)<\/em>, a coordinator with the Maryland Forest Service\u2019s 5 Million Tree Planting Program, demonstrated proper planting techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trees like more width than depth, he explained, and cautioned against planting too deeply or using what he calls the volcano method of mulching. Instead, he advised the root ball should be at ground level to allow it to be exposed to air with the mulch more in the shape of a doughnut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An observant student asked why the bamboo stake that had been supporting the tree as it grew in the container was removed when placed in the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat question,\u201d Hoskins said. \u201cIt\u2019s like training wheels on a bike. Once it is in the ground, the tree needs to support itself. It would be weaker in the future if not as it will have to experience wind and other weather. It\u2019s an example of survival of the fittest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Moses T. Kairo, dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, said, people often don\u2019t recognize the need to keep the long term in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to build things that will make a difference in the future. It\u2019s having that mindset and getting more students, our future generations, to recognize the value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail Stephens, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, <\/em>gcstephens@umes.edu<\/em><\/a>, 410-621-3850.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by Kara Nuzback, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n