ReLeaf works to conserve and restore urban forests

It always seems like there’s more open space in winter until the trees start sprouting new leaves. But each year, the onslaught of suburban development and large projects, like the beltway HOT lanes construction, have led to a steady decline of the tree cover in Fairfax County.

A wonderful volunteer organization called Fairfax ReLeaf is working to reverse this trend by working to conserve, restore, and promote sustainable urban forests in Northern Virginia. ReLeaf mobilizes volunteers to plant young native trees on public land and educating the public about the benefits of conserving urban forests. ReLeaf encourages civic groups, Scouts, local businesses, and schools to join its tree-planting projects and is starting a new initiative to encourage places of worship to plant trees on their properties.

When ReLeaf was founded in 1991, Fairfax County had already lost more than a third of its tree cover. If nothing is done to conserve trees, the “urban tree canopy” covering the county will decline from its current level of 41 percent to 37 percent by 2037, says ReLeaf Executive Director Taylor Beach.

ReLeaf’s goal is to increase the tree canopy to 45 percent by 2037, Beach says. The group hopes to achieve this goal by having an average of 400 trees per acre and expanding the tree canopy to 22,000 acres county wide. The beltway project cleared about 220 acres, and there are negotiations under way within the county about planting more trees to replace some of what was lost.

At a typical ReLeaf event, usually held in the spring and fall, volunteers plant about 250 tree seedlings—purchased from the county’s forestry department or local nurseries—and protect them with tubes so they won’t be eaten by deer. One of the group’s projects in the Annandale area is a wooded area next to the community garden plots in Pine Ridge Park off Woodburn Road. The group also distributes free tree seedlings.

To learn more about volunteering opportunities, contact Releaf, 703/324-1409.