MWCD Staff Plants 1,100 Trees

April 22, 2019

Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 worldwide to serve as a day to honor the earth, but the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) staff strives to be good stewards of the land year-round. On April 16, staff planted more than 1,000 trees near Tappan Lake. The area planted was formerly utilized for dredge disposal for the dredging of Tappan Lake. “Some areas of the planting site are wetter than others, so we used different species for upland and bottomland sites” says Clayton Rico, Forest Operations Coordinator for the MWCD. “A total of around 1,100 trees were planted that contained a mix of 11 different species, all of which are native to the area. Some of the species planted include: redbud, sugar maple, red maple, red oak, pin oak, white oak, bitternut hickory, yellow poplar, bald cypress, blackgum and river birch. We plant a variety of species as we don’t want to create monocultures that contain all one species. History has shown us that when you plant all one species, and some type of insect or disease comes through, you will lose everything.” The variety of tree species will contain both soft and hard mast trees which provides a food source for wildlife at different parts of the year.

The site will be monitored over the upcoming years to track survival rates with a goal of at least 70% survival. More trees are planted than necessary as there is an expectation that some trees will not make it. 530 trees were planted per acre on this site. In 100 years, the forest could contain somewhere around 120 trees per acre as the forest naturally thins itself. The area also contains a pollinator planting that was established in the spring of 2018.

The MWCD manages 54,000 acres of land and water dedicated to public use. MWCD assets include 10 lakes, five parks, eight campgrounds and four of the ten marinas on the properties. Board members meet once a month in open, public session. On-going major strategic initiatives of the MWCD include the $120 million master plan/capital improvement plan for the MWCD parks and campsites and the multi-million-dollar maintenance obligation of the 80-year old flood reduction system of dams and reservoirs in the district.