5 Reasons to Become a WSA Tree Trooper

5 Reasons to Become a WSA Tree Trooper

If you take a walk through almost any neighborhood in Maryland, you’ll likely notice there’s fewer trees than there used to be. Whether due to development, disease, or storms, our state is losing vital tree canopy fast. In fact, Maryland experience a net loss of over 13,000 acres of tree cover between 2013 and 2018, just in its urban areas (Maryland Forest Technical Study, Chesapeake Conservancy). This loss doesn’t just change our community’s look - it impacts our health, our environment, and our quality of life.

The good news? Planting and caring for trees doesn’t have to be left for foresters and city crews. Everyone can be part of the solution. That’s where Tree Troopers come in!

In response to Anne Arundel County’s significant forest loss in recent years, the Watershed Stewards Academy (WSA) launched the RePlant programs to educate and engage community members on the importance of native trees and expanding our tree canopy.

What’s a tree trooper?

Tree Troopers are the volunteer leaders behind RePlant Anne Arundel and RePlant Annapolis. They plan and implement tree plantings in communities across the County, and help others understand their value. Since 2020, the RePlant programs have trained over 200 Tree Troopers and planted more than 20,000 trees!

(See how one Tree Trooper planted over 100 trees in Annapolis’ Bay Ride community!)

You don’t need to be an expert or have special equipment to become a Tree Trooper - just a willingness to learn and a desire to make a lasting impact. Anyone interested in becoming a Tree Trooper can take WSA’s free, online training. In Fall 2025, WSA will also be hosting a field session for new Tree Troopers to come together and practice the best methods for tree planting and care - making now the perfect time to dive into training!

Tree Troopers are also often the first to hear about other tree programs hosted by WSA throughout the year, such as Groves of Gratitude, an upcoming Fall program that offers low-cost trees to County residents while also raising money for a local community non-profit.

So why should you consider becoming a Tree Trooper? Here are five powerful reasons why this role matters more than ever, and how you can be part of something deeply rooted in positive change.

THE IMPACTS OF WSA TREE TROOPERS

1. Build Stronger Communities

Tree Troopers are encouraged to plan plantings on a variety of properties, including private yards, community-owned land, schools, congregations, and other shared spaces. The program empowers you to lead outreach efforts and host hands-on volunteer events, creating opportunities for neighbors to spend time outdoors and work toward a shared goal. These events not only improve local green spaces, but also strengthen relationships through shared environmental action.

2. Build healthier communities

Tree Troopers often plant trees in urban neighborhoods, or in areas that are experiencing flooding or erosion during storm events. These trees provide shade that cools outdoor spaces and helps counteract the effects of a warming planet. Trees also improve air and water quality across Anne Arundel County, absorbing pollutants, filtering runoff, and reducing erosion that can harm the Chesapeake Bay. These projects create cooler, cleaner, and more resilient communities for everyone.

3. build beautiful communities

Trees transform neighborhoods by adding natural beauty, texture, and seasonal color to yards, streets, and parks. From the bright blooms of Eastern redbuds to the timeless presence of White oaks, there is a tree for every space! Trees can enhance curb appeal, increase property values, and create more welcoming, livable outdoor environments. Tree Troopers help shape these beautiful spaces, encouraging their community members to spend more time outside with friends, families, and neighbors.

4. build environmentally educated communities

Tree Troopers serve as trusted local resources, helping others understand the importance of planting native trees, and how to care for them properly. With access to WSA’s hub of online and printed resources, Tree Troopers are equipped to support sustainable planting and maintenance efforts. By sharing their knowledge and increasing access in their communities to low-cost trees, Tree Troopers build a culture of care for our shared environment.

5. Build engaged communities

New Tree Troopers join a growing network of passionate volunteers committed to protecting our local ecosystems. Once a Tree Trooper and their community realizes how easy it is to make a positive impact through planting or caring for a tree, they might feel empowered to take action in other ways too. WSA offers training programs, education and outreach events, and plant distribution initiatives throughout the year. Through continued involvement, new Tree Troopers, and their community members, can build new skills, connect with and learn from like-minded volunteers, and make a lasting difference in the health of our watershed.

- Faith Waaramaa
WSA Restoration Coordinator

Bay Ridge Civic Association Plants Over 100 Trees with WSA's Tree Troopers

Author: Pat Burns, WSA Tree Trooper

I’ve known of the Watershed Stewards Academy (WSA) for about 5 years through their Backyard Buffers Program. In the Spring, WSA offers small bundles of native bare root seedlings for trees and shrubs, which I purchased for a nominal amount and have planted with good success. It feels good to plant a short little stick of a tree and 4 years later it’s 12’ tall.

But it was last Spring, while picking up my BB trees, that I had the chance to meet WSA’s Jeff Popp (Director of Restoration) and Faith Waaramaa (Restoration Coordinator) and be introduced to the Tree Troopers Program. Four informative online sessions later, I had my designation and was ready to plant along with the Bay Ridge Civic Association’s (BRCA) Forest Management Committee (FMC).

Our mission was to plant 100 native canopy and understory trees that would provide beneficial habitat for native pollinators, birds, and animals, including in time food source amendment for the deer population. In addition, we wanted to plant flowering trees that would beautify the neighborhood along community roads. We were excited!

Pictured, left to right: Jennifer Wazenski, Greg Connor, Pat Burns, Bill Davidson, Faith Waaramaa

Tree Project planning

So, you want to plant 200 trees? Yup. How about 100? Okay, 100 it is!

That’s a summation of one of our first email exchanges with Faith and Jeff from WSA. At the outset, it was easy to get super excited about a project like this without realizing what was really involved in doing it well. After that exchange and our preliminary site visit, we had a better understanding of preparations needed and were confident that we could succeed in planting and maintaining 100 trees.

When the planning process began, we had a clear purpose of the benefits it would bring to the wildlife and neighborhood, and we shared the excitement with our community via our newsletter and social media.

The project was broken down into components. Our first step was to identify sites where we could have a positive impact on the forest without overcoming or creating obstacles to our success in planting or maintaining the new trees going forward. We were very conscious of not wanting to plant trees where we would get any pushback. Avoiding neighboring properties and buffer zones, we selected sites that were within 100’ of a road so we could water and maintain them going forward with less difficulty.

After selecting the general sites, we evaluated the soil and growing conditions in each location (soil composition, moisture level, and sun exposure). WSA provided us with their Resilient Tree Species Manual and Usage Grid so we could map and select trees that would have the highest probability of survival in each location. These invaluable tools, including site visits with WSA, helped us make good choices in tree selection and location.

SITE PREPARATION

Long pants tucked into boots, long sleeves, gloves, eye protection and bug spray (lots of bug spray). We had to cut a significant amount of wineberry and remain committed to doing our best to keep it in check. It was important to have the planting sites be easily accessible; we didn’t want our volunteers to walk through high bramble or stilt grass to get to planting spots. These conditions would have been a significant barrier to volunteer engagement.

Remember to call Miss Utility well in advance! They have a waiting period that allows time for marking. That held us up for a few days, but we didn’t want to be the folks that took out the internet for the whole neighborhood.

Once our planting sites were cleared and marked, we staked and labeled tree type for each spot and were then ready to start digging. We wanted to have all the holes pre-dug for planting day. We rented a large power auger to dig holes that worked well but it was cumbersome to move around the woods. WSA chipped in their 2-person portable auger and that worked great (remember to bring the earplugs).

Our trees, mulch, stakes, and caging got delivered two days before our planting day. We distributed a bag of mulch and stakes to each pre-dug hole beforehand. We cut our deer cages to size, sorted the trees by site location, and gave them a good watering. But we kept the trees together and wrapped the perimeter with the cut cages to protect them overnight. The day before planting, we organized our equipment, made sure we had everything sorted properly, and lightly watered the trees so they weren’t too heavy on planting day.

PLANTING DAY

Early morning of planting day, we distributed the trees to the planting sites. Neighbors chipped in with borrowed utility trailers and trucks to get it done quickly.

At the kick-off, we had a great crowd of folks who came to support the effort - neighbors, other WSA Tree Trooper volunteers, WSA staff, and even a couple that lived on a boat that showed up to help. We gave a briefing of how we would work, a planting demonstration, kept our volunteers together and engaged, and moved from site to site with our water truck in tow. We were so pleased at how well and quickly the tree planting happened. Our volunteers had a great time, enjoyed working and talking together, and made an enormous impact on our community, watershed, and environment.

thank you!

There are so many people to acknowledge and thank for making this Tree Trooper Project a success.

Most of all, the Anne Arundel County Watershed Stewards Academy, its staff, volunteers, and especially Faith Waaramaa of WSA for her guidance and assistance throughout. We couldn’t have done it without them. They have been the best in every conceivable way. Tree Troopers, and other WSA programs, are incredibly valuable to our County and are amazing opportunities to learn, engage, and support the health and betterment of our community and the environment.

In addition, the members of the BRCA FMC, including Greg Connor, Bill Davidson, Jennifer Wazenski, and Holly Patterson Moring for their help in planning, community engagement and execution, the BRCA Board for their steadfast support of the project, and to all the community members helping in the background and volunteers who came out on planting day to make it happen. Almost 40 volunteers came out and planted, staked, mulched, caged and watered 100 native trees in less than 4 hours. It was incredible to see the turnout.

For all the FMC members, it was a wonderful validation of the importance of the project and acknowledgement of our efforts to make it happen by our community. We are looking forward to watering our new trees, future plantings, and additional opportunities for community engagement in our forest’s health and continued sustainment.

And to my wife, Avery, our next-door neighbor’s, Richard and Jordan Smith, and all our neighbors who endured the unsightly presence of the unkept gardens in our yard and forestry materials and equipment in our driveway for the last 4 months while I’ve been in the woods. I promise I’ll clean it all up.

Thank you all! You have made this project such a success.

Replant Anne Arundel

Replant Anne Arundel was born in 2020 following a tree canopy study commissioned by the County to understand and reduce forest loss. The tree canopy study found a loss of 2,500 acres of forest in Anne Arundel County from 2013 to 2017 – the highest rate of loss among the urban counties in Maryland. Replant Anne Arundel is a partnership of Anne Arundel County, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Helena Foundation and Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.

Led by the Watershed Stewards Academy, Replant Anne Arundel helps local communities restore their lost tree canopy. So far, Replant has installed over 11,000 climate resilient native trees in projects from Linthicum to North Beach and engaged thousands of residents in tree planting and maintenance.

The cornerstone of the Replant Program is a dedicated volunteer corps called Tree Troopers, who are specially trained by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and WSA to design, install and maintain community tree projects. Over 100 active Tree Troopers have developed projects at churches, schools, libraries and residential communities throughout the County. Each tree installed by Tree Troopers comes from WSA’s Resilient Tree Species list, ensuring that it will thrive in the coming decades as our climate shifts. Most importantly, each tree will be monitored and maintained to ensure ongoing growth.

Tree Ambassadors

WSA is proud to partner with Defensores de la Cuenca (Watershed Defenders), a nonprofit dedicated to helping the Latino* community connect with the natural world through knowledge, shared experiences, and opportunities to preserve and defend the Chesapeake Bay watershed for a healthier mind, body and soul.

The partnership is designed to engage the Latino community by forming new connections, not only with residents but also with contractors who make their living working in urban gardens and rural gardens and farms.

Tree Ambassadors, members of Latino community, will be specially trained and equipped to design, install and maintain projects in their own communities. The program, including training and outreach materials, will be offered in Spanish and English.   

*WSA is using the term Latino, rather than Latinex as recommended by Abel Olivo, Executive Director of Defensores de la Cuenca.