Urbana High and Middle School Tree Planting _________________________________________

On April 23, 2008, the Frederick County Board of Education committed to increasing the cumulative tree canopy on all board properties from an estimated 12% existing canopy to 20% tree canopy by 2038. Frederick County Public Schools is the first school district in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to adopt such a goal.

Tree planting efforts continue to be led by the FCPS Schoolyard Habitat Program, Potomac Conservancy, and other Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance partners to help the school district reach its 20% tree canopy goal. This past fall, Frederick County Watershed Management Section staff collaborated with Potomac Conservancy to use funding from the EPA and the Frederick County fee-in-lieu program to plant more than 70 large caliper native trees on Urbana High and Middle School properties. Tree species included in the planting plan designed by Western Maryland RC&D & Maryland DNR staff were: arborvitae, crabapple, flowering plum, honey locust, northern red oak, redbud, river birch, serviceberry, sweet gum, sugar maple, american sycamore, yellow poplar, yellowwood, and willow oak.

The new trees, planted over an estimated 1 acre of ground between both schools, will shade parking lots and recreational areas and provide stormwater management and environmental benefits. The trees were planted and will be maintained over the course of three years by a local contracted landscaping company.