By james art 
More than two dozen volunteers sorted and distributed more than 12,000 trees and shrubs in Manheim, Lancaster County in October as the fall season for the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership kicked into high gear. Photo by BJ Small/CBF Staff
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Keystone 10 Million Trees (K10) Partnership is at it again, doing the dirty work of adding 130,000 new trees for Pennsylvania during the fall planting season.
“We were able to distribute the trees in 30 different locations in Pennsylvania to over 100 of our partners,” said Marley McKind, manager of Keystone’s 10 Million Tree Partnership for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). The partnership is coordinated by CBF and has grown to over 300 partners.
Approximately 28,000 miles of Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams have been damaged by polluted runoff and the legacy of coal mining. Trees, especially when planted as riparian buffers, are the most cost-effective tools for cleaning and protecting waterways.
Trees filter and absorb polluted runoff, stabilize riverbanks and improve soil quality. They also help tackle climate change by cooling the air and sequestering carbon.
“Seeing the level of enthusiasm and passion for tree planting from our partners, communities and individual landowners throughout the Keystone State is what makes this work worth doing,” McKind added.
Katie Ruth, executive director of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, said PA-IPL has received requests from its volunteers for about 35,000 K10 trees for the fall season and has 33 volunteer-run distribution sites in the Commonwealth.
“The majority of our distribution locations are in the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” Ruth said. “We engaged network partnerships in 20 Pennsylvania counties and reached program participants in an additional 35 counties. This represents 85 percent coverage of the state’s 67 counties.”
Tree planting grants, coordinated by award-winning volunteers, and other tree survival grants also support the Partnership.
A $4,000 grant from The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful® will provide new trees to be planted at McCaskey High School in Lancaster Township on Nov. 9. The effort will be led by Mira Lloyd Dock Partnership Diversity Award winners Marlisa Yoder-Bontrager and twin sisters Keisha and Tarsha Scovens. The Dock Award is presented by K10 for conservation and environmental justice work in underrepresented communities.
A $75,000 Tree Survival Grant to K10 from the Foxwynd Foundation of Chester County will help newly planted trees along Pennsylvania’s streams live longer, grow stronger and have a better chance of cleaning up and protect local waters.
Maintenance in riparian buffers supported by the Foxwynd grant may include erecting, removing, or replacing tree shelters after storms and checking for competitive vegetation in the shelters. Other work may include removing bird netting from overhanging tree shelters, applying herbicides and mowing around the trees.
As new trees go into the ground this fall, the Partnership is looking ahead to 2025. “As we look forward to next year, we are excited to continue fostering connections, streamlining tree distribution and planting more trees in the ground,” Marley — McKind added. “As we like to say, it all makes for clean water!”
To learn more about the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership, visit www.tenmilliontrees.org.
– BJ Small, Chesapeake Bay Foundation