County Teams Up With MD Natural Resources To Plant Trees, Tackle Conservation Projects

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The county has teamed up with the state department of natural resources to jointly pursue climate and natural resource goals, officials announced Thursday.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball joined Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources Joshua Kurtz to sign a memorandum of understanding.

“Our strengthened partnership with DNR aligns with our ambitious, holistic, strategic and collaborative approach to becoming energy independent, combatting climate change and ensuring the resiliency of our Howard County community and beyond,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “This innovative collaboration will accelerate progress toward our respective climate and energy independence goals, improving the quality of life for our residents and strengthening the natural habitats on which we all depend.”

In his proposed fiscal year 2025 budget, Ball has included $230,000 in funding to support DNR’s efforts to plant 32,800 trees on roughly 82 acres of state land in Howard County. This project will be the largest voluntary planting of any kind ever in Howard County, officials said. These trees will support the health of both the Patuxent and Patapsco watersheds, which contribute to quality of life and sustain the Chesapeake Bay.

“Howard County has been a vital partner to the Department of Natural Resources, and we look forward to working closely together to pursue our shared environmental goals,” said Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources Joshua Kurtz.

Under the agreement, the DNR and Howard County agreed to deepen their partnership in forest conservation, tree canopy expansion, and natural resource management, such as tree planting, invasive species management and other conservation efforts. Maryland has a state-wide goal of planting five million trees by 2031, which was established in the Tree Solutions Now Act of 2021 and is led by DNR. Howard County’s bold 2023 Climate Forward Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (Climate Forward) includes an ambitious county-wide goal of achieving 50 percent tree canopy by 2030.

When combined with the county’s department of recreation and parks’ natural resources civision’s tree canopy program, Turf to Trees Program, Stream ReLeaf Program, volunteer tree plantings and more, the county has planted more than 80,000 trees under Ball’s administration.