Written By
With support from the Arbor Day Foundation, 6,000 trees were planted on Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife Refuge this May. Unless you were looking for them, you might not have noticed. The seedlings are rarely more than 12-inches tall, and they disappear in the meadows of grass and sedges. But generations from now, they will be the forest that guards the stream and the home for local wildlife.
“My predecessors have told me not to look at the site for a few years after initial planting and treatment,” says Mitchell Baalman, wildlife refuge specialist at the refuge. “You’ll get disappointed and think the planting failed and be tempted to intervene, but you just need to be patient and let them grow. Some of the plantings from 20 years ago at the start of the refuge are already benefiting the wildlife habitat.”
Though it’s hard to see in the short-term, these forests will eventually provide the functions necessary to restore the watershed of Whittlesey Creek. In 75 years or so, these forests will act as a sponge to help retain rainwater and prevent massive flood damage to roads and infrastructure. They will stabilize the creek banks and prevent erosion. Even when they eventually die and fall, trees provide life. They’ll act as the woody debris in the stream, providing habitat for its cold-water residents, like coaster brook trout. The impact of planting a few seedlings is long-term.
"This conservation work being done with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is important to the Arbor Day Foundation because it shows how the simple act of planting trees can be seen as a solution to our most pressing issues," said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. "We look forward to helping create a thriving habitat and a more beautiful watershed as these trees grow."
With the help of our partners, including the Arbor Day Foundation, U.S. Forest Service and Friends of the Center Alliance, we will continue to work to restore the forests at Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife Refuge and throughout the Lake Superior Basin.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has grown to become the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, with more than one million members, supporters and valued partners. Since 1972, almost 500 million Arbor Day Foundation trees have been planted in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to lead toward a world where trees are used to solve issues critical to survival.
As one of the world's largest operating conservation foundations, the Arbor Day Foundation, through its members, partners and programs, educates and engages stakeholders and communities across the globe to involve themselves in its mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees.
Written By
