Howard County is one of the 15 “turfiest” counties in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed with more than 66,000 acres of turf cover.
Howard County also has over 80,000 acres of tree canopy. This presents a tremendous opportunity for private landowners to increase the ecological value of their land while improving community resiliency. One critical way that landowners can do this is with tree plantings, agroforestry plantings and woodland stewardship.

 

EcoWorks’ TREE HoCo campaign provides technical assistance, site assessments, tree plantings, deer protection, woodland enhancement and restoration, and maintenance guidance to private landowners in Howard County with a preference for properties that are up to 10 acres in size.

 

Our plantings and woodland stewardship services aim to:

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• Increase property value and the community’s economy;

• Block and absorb sound;

• Clean the air and reduce greenhouse gases;

• Enhance ecosystem service benefits such as carbon sequestration and pollination;

• Reduce the impacts of climate change, especially to those most vulnerable; and

• Provide sources of food wherever possible.

 

In partnership with Howard County Government, reduced or no cost services can be provided to the following in order to increase tree equity and support ecosystem services:

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• Lands in and adjacent to Howard County’s Green Infrastructure Network;

• Lands in floodplains and with streams / stream buffers;

• Areas of Howard County with lower tree equity scores (<70);

• Non-profit and faith-based institutions; and

• Those experiencing hardship.

 

These efforts will assist the County in meeting goals of the recently signed US Climate Action Natural Working Lands Challenge along with their Chesapeake Bay and stormwater obligations to the State of Maryland.