A North County Love Connection

Since Spring 2020, several North County Stewards have been supporting project maintenance efforts at Empowering Believers Church of the Apostolic Faith in Glen Burnie.

Apostle Larry Lee Thomas and Steward Dawn Taft

After connecting with the congregation's Steward Roz Davall at WSA's 2020 Spring Into Action Conference, Stewards Candy Dayton and Dawn Taft--founding members of AAPRA, the Anne Arundel Patapsco River Alliance--began visiting the site on a regular basis with other volunteers.  Together, they have helped maintain one of the congregation's restoration projects by weeding, adding plants, and incorporating new elements for a rustic seating area.

Over the past year, the relationship between these Stewards and Empowering Believers has blossomed into what the church's pastor, Apostle Larry Lee Thomas calls a "love connection."  Apostle Thomas shared recently, "I think this relationship captures the unity that's happening in order to move projects ahead.  We are building diversity, addressing a lot of the things in WSA's strategic plan, and that is part of this love connection.  We can see every aspect of our community engaging in this wonderful project. #loveconnection #dreamteam!"

For years, Candy, Dawn, and a small group of AAPRA volunteers have met every Tuesday in the late afternoons of spring through fall to care for the rain garden at Candy’s church, Faith Baptist in Glen Burnie.  When their team realized they had the capacity to maintain an additional site at a neighboring congregation, they adopted one of the projects at Empowering Believers.

What’s the secret to their successful project maintenance?  Candy shared, “Our first tool is prayer. 😊 Next keep the commitment short.  We shoot for one hour, one day a week…Don't be discouraged if you are the only one who shows up…For years it was just me, then Dawn joined me, then Lauren Biddinger and Thom Marston…If you can get four knowledgeable people working for an hour, a lot can get accomplished.”

Latin for Gardeners: June 2021

June’s Native Maryland Plant
Solidago juncea Aiton
(so-li-DAY-go JUN-kee-uh)
Common Name: Early Goldenrod

It’s the year of Brood X and I don’t need to go outside to hear the deafening sound of cicadas; they’re on many of my plants and I often find them climbing up my pantleg or awkwardly flying past me as I meander through my yard. It’s during these brief encounters that I’m glad that I listened to Haley.

In 2019, I gave the Watershed Stewards Academy a tour of my yard to demonstrate many native plants that are used to address common landscaping problems.  As the group came to my pollinator garden, I mentioned that I had recently noticed that the Solidago juncea, planted in the rear of the garden, was slowly encroaching on my shorter plants and may need to be managed or possibly removed and relocated, in favor of the shorter plants.  Without hesitation, Haley, a young WSA staff member, said, “But Alison, goldenrod is such a valuable pollinator plant, I don’t think you should get rid of it.” After the tour finished and everyone had gone home, I thought about Haley’s immediate defense of this plant and I decided to keep a closer eye on it.  I knew that fall-blooming goldenrod was especially important for late-season bees, but was a summer-blooming goldenrod equally valuable? If so, was it possible for me to constrain it rather than eliminate it entirely?

After two years of observation, I’m convinced that Solidago juncea is a consistent pollinator favorite, attracting a variety of bees and butterflies, as well as some unique beneficial insects, namely scoliid, sand, potter and cicada killer wasps – all solitary and non-aggressive wasps that I enjoy observing. Scoliid wasps are a particular favorite because they feast on June beetle grubs that nest in lawns, sand wasps feed their larvae the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, potter wasps feed their larvae caterpillars, commonly cankerworm and sawfly. And cicada killers, well, what can I say?  Although they are more than just a predator of the annual cicadas (they also pollinate plants), I’m delighted to have any insect in my yard that will reduce the cicada population.

Solidago juncea is a solitary or few-stemmed perennial that provides a nice contrast to the many purple and blue flowers blooming in summer. I’ve come to embrace its stature and find its plumes add a nice structural element, even through the winter.  The diversity of beneficial insects it attracts makes it valuable to me as it may to anyone interested in integrated pest management (IPM).  Thanks Haley, for taking a stand for goldenrod - an often under-appreciated plant in any garden.

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: May 2021

May’s Native Maryland Plant
Iris versicolor
(EYE-riss VER-suh-kuh-lor)
Common Name: Blue flag

The genus Iris contains over 250 species, but only a few of them are native to Maryland. Fortunately, Iris versicolor is one of them. This plant is a rhizomatous monocot¹ with nectar guides on the petals and sepals that are visible to both bees and humans – this is not often the case. Bees are particularly attracted to flowers that are blue, purple, white and yellow and Iris versicolor give them all of that and more. They offer a landing pad (falls) where pollen collects and a substantial nectary. As the bee enters the flower it squeezes under the style arm, scrapes off the pollen, and transfers it to the stigma where it germinates.

Iris flowers are special enough to merit unique terminology and their own day on the calendar – Iris Day in 2021 is on May 8th. These exceptional plants also have some salt-tolerance and are a valuable plant in any naturally wet area of a landscape or in the center of a rain garden since they thrive in moist-wet conditions.  Another of their great features - they are deer-tolerant.

A single Iris is a vision to behold but as any good gardener knows – more is always better! Enjoy the blooms of May and be sure to celebrate the iconic and irresistible Iris on May 8th.

¹ -Monocot leaves generally arise from a single point and feature parallel veins. Monocot flower parts are mostly in multiples of three e.g. three sepals, three petals

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Celebrating Year One of Replant Anne Arundel

As we begin the second year of Replant Anne Arundel, we reflect on the many successes and look forward to amplifying our impact in 2021. 

Having lost over 2,500 acres of forests in recent years, local residents came together to Replant Anne Arundel in 2020, adding almost 5,000 native trees to our landscape. 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.   

Replant by the numbers

In 2020, Replant Anne Arundel:

• Trained 44 Tree Troopers

• Planted 4,803 trees on 204 project sites

• Engaged 304 residents

In 2021, that trend will continue with the planting of more than 5,000 additional trees, 50 new Tree Troopers, and over 1,500 residents engaged. WSA is grateful to the Chaney Foundation who joined the list of Replant funders in 2021.

A new interactive map shows the location of Replant Anne Arundel projects in relation to recent tree canopy loss. You can explore it here.

Tree Troopers…A Force for Good! 

In March 2020, WSA piloted the Tree Trooper initiative: a training program, in partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, for community leaders to plan, plant, and maintain trees in their communities. Within five days of opening the registration for Tree Troopers, we received 65 applications, representing 55 residential communities and nine congregations!  

A second group of Tree Troopers began training in March 2021, and additional opportunities to join this corps will be available later this year. Interested? Please complete the Replant Interest Form!

“I love being part of something that will outlast my time on the earth by many decades. In the meantime, I hope to breathe the oxygen and sit under the shade of these trees.”

— Cel Petro,  Tree Trooper and Watershed Steward, planted 98 trees in her Galesville community

Ensuring Equity

As we reflected on the outcomes of our inaugural year, we recognized that Replant Anne Arundel did not reach all communities equitably.  In the coming year,  we aim to better understand and respond to the needs of communities that are not receiving trees. As our staff and Board engaged in targeted learning on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ), we heard from underrepresented partners of color specifically about Replant Anne Arundel and understood that the “engagement” that some of these diverse audiences seek is closely connected with economic development.

This realization led us to focus on contractors whose racial and ethnic demographics align with those of the communities with whom we hope to 1) strengthen our existing relationships, and 2) build new partnerships. We recognize that our attempts to connect must honor the needs these communities have highlighted for us, and it is our sincere hope that a new engagement strategy will result in more people of color receiving trees and more underrepresented communities engaging in action for a cleaner watershed.

Continuing our efforts- for all

In the first year of Replant, efforts were made to reach underrepresented constituents, with a WSA volunteer spearheading an effort to engage black contractors and communities, and staff conducting listening sessions to better understand the needs of different targeted groups. Thanks to a partnership with Kenyatta Rowel, several POC-owned companies with the skills to plant trees for Replant were identified and provided assistance to bid on and be awarded contracts to execute large-scale tree plantings. WSA continues to work with Kenyatta to identify additional opportunities to create social equity in contracting for green jobs.

Building on this work, we received additional funding to allow us to review our current processes, identify gaps and opportunities specifically for the Replant Anne Arundel Program, and provide recommendations for next steps with diverse audiences. We look forward to engaging every community in Anne Arundel County to drive change for sustainable landscapes and clean waters.

Restoration Professionals - Essential for Success 

Randy K. Rowel Jr., XMNR, a Watershed Steward of Class 7 and accomplished environmental professional, works to bring equity in environmental education and restoration. Thanks to a partnership with Mr. Rowel and his grant and proposal writing firm RR & Associates, several Anne Arundel County-based, POC-owned companies were awarded contracts to execute large-scale tree plantings. WSA continues to partner with Mr. Rowel to identify additional opportunities to create social equity in contracting for green jobs.

Building on this work, we received funding to allow us to review our current processes, identify gaps and opportunities specifically for the Replant Anne Arundel Program. We hope this will be one more step toward engaging every community in Anne Arundel County to drive change for sustainable landscapes and clean waters.

WSA is grateful for the support and technical assistance of many other restoration professionals who helped to guide this program.  

Grae Brummitt, WSA Restoration Technician, developed the nuts and bolts of this program from the ground up. Grae was instrumental in facilitating the Tree Trooper Training, organizing the Tree Trooper Projects, working with the installation contractors to ensure trees were properly sited and planted. Replant Anne Arundel would not have been the success it has been without Grae. 

Josh Clark, WSA Restoration Coordinator, used his CBLP (Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional) training and Landscape Architecture expertise to ensure maximum ecological and restoration impact of the program.

Justin Arseneault, Project Forester, Forest Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, helped facilitate the Backyard Buffers Program, develop the Resilient Tree Species List, and provided programmatic advice.

Craig Highfield, Forests Program Director for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, instructed much of the Tree Trooper training, imparting his vast tree knowledge to the new volunteers.

Brittany Hass, MD Forests Projects Coordinator for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, helped instruct the Tree Trooper training, bringing a wealth of practical experience to our volunteers. 

Matt Johnston, Anne Arundel County Environmental Policy Director, provided visionary leadership to make this program a reality.

Erik Michelsen, Deputy Director, Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration Program, and his talented team guided this program toward maximum water quality benefits and are creating a new app to capture project data. 

Bud Reaves, Anne Arundel County Forester, helped to develop the Resilient Tree Species List and provided programmatic advice.