Tender tree seedlings are being nurtured to maturity at the hands of prison inmates as part of a new statewide environmental initiative to plant a million trees by 2011.
“I’m sure we can meet that goal of 1 million trees — We just did about 1,000 here,” said inmate Charlie Davis, originally of Charles County, referring to the seedlings in the field outside the Patuxent Institution, a state-run, maximum-security, correctional facility in Jessup.
“It feels good to do something like this.”
All told, the inmates will care for about 3,500 seedlings until they are ready to be planted in parks across Howard County, officials said.
“In our local forest conservation program, we’ve planted over 70,000 trees in the last 10 years,” said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, who joined Gov. Martin O’Malley and other state and local officials in announcing the Maryland Grows Trees initiative Friday at the prison.
The initiative is part of a larger, multi-agency effort statewide, called Maryland: Smart, Green & Growing, that connects various transportation improvements, economic development, smart growth and environmental restoration, like the tree plantings.
“To achieve real progress in improving the way our communities grow, we must invest in that connection to use and protect our natural resources in a more sustainable way while growing our economy,” O’Malley said.
“Tree plantings play a critical and important role in cleaning up the waters that actually flow into the Chesapeake Bay. One large tree can eliminate 5,000 gallons of stormwater runoff annually.”
The tree-planting program is similar to the Maryland Grows Oysters project announced earlier this year, an initiative that is working to place 1,000 oyster cages at piers by the end of October.
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