Kudos to 18 Maury River Middle students, who one Friday after school last month, planted three dozen trees along a tributary of Woods Creek. Most of the students were members of the Boxerwood Bay Club, committed to local give-back action after a fall trip to the Chesapeake Bay. The project was in partnership with Rockbridge Conservation, owner of the property, and COREworks, Boxerwood’s carbon offset marketplace.
Led by Boxerwood educators, the students planted native oaks, sycamore, locust and pine on a hillside adjacent to Kendal. In a delightful twist, the trees themselves had spent the last two years in Boxerwood’s own nursery, first potted up by 4th graders in our Growing Native program: a youth project all the way.
Once rooted and strong, the new riparian buffer will prevent erosion, reduce pollution, and create wildlife habitat. The trees are also anticipated to sequester roughly 3 tons of carbon in the next fifteen years, the value of which will be made available for procurement on the COREworks marketplace.
Hooray for the newly planted trees that will benefit the entire watershed for years to come – as also for those who planted them, and their new conservation commitments and skills.
