{"id":44333,"date":"2025-04-03T12:30:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T16:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=44333"},"modified":"2025-04-03T12:37:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T16:37:19","slug":"secretarys-message-a-tree-grows-in-maryland-every-one-counts-on-the-way-to-5-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/04\/03\/secretarys-message-a-tree-grows-in-maryland-every-one-counts-on-the-way-to-5-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretary\u2019s Message: A Tree Grows in Maryland – Every One Counts on the Way to 5 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Two<\/a>

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz and Howard County Executive Calvin Ball plant trees in March. Maryland DNR photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Maryland has just celebrated its own Arbor Day<\/a>, well ahead of the national celebration on the last Friday of the month. This year, I\u2019m glad to say we are catching up on an important initiative that will impact our future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maryland made an ambitious commitment with the 5 Million Trees Initiative in 2021, and last year we celebrated the <\/span>milestone of one million trees in the ground<\/span><\/a>. More than 500,000 trees were planted in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

This spring we’re in the midst of our most prolific tree-planting season since the initiative started. In March alone, the Maryland Forest Service planted 197,000 new trees\u2013a new one month record. So far, this year\u2019s new plantings amount to about 500 acres of newly forested lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

These new trees will help improve the health of our communities, sequester carbon, purify our air and water, and bolster wildlife populations. The plantings are an investment in Maryland\u2019s future, and the new trees offer an ever-growing return for generations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The department has also created a new Community Forestry division that will deliver more effective local coordination for programs like <\/span>TreeMendous<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>TreeCity USA<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Gift of Trees<\/span><\/a>. Our <\/span>Ayton state tree nursery<\/span><\/a> brought on additional staff this winter and is ramping up production to help meet the ambitious goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

DNR is incorporating tree-planting as a central element in almost every restoration initiative on public and private lands, together with our fellow state agencies and local partners. With the recent <\/span>selection of the first projects<\/span><\/a> to be funded under the Whole Watershed Act, we’re looking forward to working with partners to improve tree canopies in the five target watersheds.<\/span><\/p>\n

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