Nationwide Insurance and American Forests to plant trees to protect Chesapeake Bay from runoff

80-plus Poultry Farmers Planting 16,000 Trees donated by Nationwide through American Forests and the Delmarva Poultry Industry’s Vegetated Environmental Buffer Program:

Columbus, Ohio (April 30, 2010) – Using donations on behalf of customers who have chosen to go paperless, Nationwide Insurance is providing American Forests – the nation’s oldest nonprofit citizens’ conservation organization – with tree planting funds to protect the Chesapeake Bay.
To celebrate Arbor Day, Nationwide and American Forests kicked off this green initiative today by planting buffer trees around chicken farms on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland and Delaware.

“Nationwide customers elect to go paperless to save trees and plant new ones and this partnership allows us to plant these trees where they can prevent pollution from entering the Chesapeake Bay – which provides drinking water to 14 million people,” said Scot Zajic, Nationwide’s Chief Policy Officer. “These trees also beautify the area and help preserve the farms and jobs of families raising poultry.”

American Forests selected the Delmarva Poultry Industry (DPI) program to plant tree buffers in order capture emissions to reduce ammonia and carbon dioxide from the chicken farms and also utilize the tree roots to absorb some run off nutrients. Nationwide is funding 16,000 of the 20,000 trees DPI requested.
Nationwide has partnered with American Forests since 2008 to plant thousands of trees in strategic locations across America. The Chesapeake Bay clean up efforts including reduction of chicken farm run-off has been high priority for environmental and business groups and new federal demands have accelerated the bay’s clean up.

“This project is a perfect example of ‘planting where it matters most’ because locating the trees as buffers creates a huge benefit for the bay water as compared to establishing an entire forest in a more remote location,” said Dan Smith, vice president of communications for American Forests.

About Nationwide

Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by A.M. Best. The company provides a full range of personalized insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and health and productivity services. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.
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For more on the DPI Vegetated Environmental Buffer program, visit www.dpichicken.org