Wel­come to the Plant (it) Green home page!  The Plant (it) Green Pro­gram encom­passes the fol­low­ing res­i­den­tial tree plant­ing pro­grams, and is a very pop­u­lar and suc­cess­ful program.

2010 MORE Trees in 2010

In 2010, the County uti­lized funds from the inter­est of the fee-in-lieu* pro­gram to pro­vide free trees to County res­i­dents.  Over 5,000 trees were planted through two events: one in the spring and one in the fall.

Plans for future give-aways will be depen­dent upon avail­able funding.

*When devel­op­ers are not able to per­form their for­est mit­i­ga­tion require­ments through plant­ing they must pay a fee-in-lieu to the County as estab­lished in the For­est Con­ser­va­tion Regulations.

Stream ReLeaf

Thanks to the more than 150 res­i­dents who have part­nered with the County since 2003, over 6,000 trees and shrubs have been planted in ripar­ian buffers through­out the County! Ripar­ian buffers are pro­tec­tive strips of trees, shrubs, and other veg­e­ta­tion along a stream which:  help pre­vent ero­sion; pro­vide veg­e­ta­tive cover; and trap nutri­ents such as nitro­gen and phos­pho­rus — two major pol­lu­tants of the Chesa­peake Bay.

In order for a prop­erty owner to be eli­gi­ble for this pro­gram, they must com­mit to plant­ing a min­i­mum of a dozen trees or shrubs, and the area to be planted must be within 75 feet of a stream (but not in a util­ity right-of-way).  For more infor­ma­tion on the Stream ReLeaf Pro­gram, please visit the ReLeaf web­site.

Pri­vate For­est Con­ser­va­tion Estab­lish­ment (PFCE) Program

The PFCE Pro­gram is an excit­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion between the Howard County Depart­ment of Recre­ation and Parks and the Depart­ment of Plan­ning and Zon­ing.  Through this recent pro­gram, started in 2008, almost 30 acres of pri­vate prop­erty have been des­ig­nated as for­est con­ser­va­tion ease­ments.  Plant­i­ngs are cur­rently being sched­uled for 2011 and 2012 which could bring the total area pro­tected under this pro­gram to more than 50 acres.

For more infor­ma­tion on the Pri­vate For­est Con­ser­va­tion Estab­lish­ment Pro­gram, please visit the PFCE web­site.