COVER STORY
VNLA Member Spotlight on
CASEY TREES E
stimated to support approximately 50 percent tree canopy in 1950, DC’s canopy in 2001 declined to just over 35 percent. A Washington Post article chronicling this decline inspired Betty Brown Casey, a longtime area resident, to establish Casey Trees with the mission “To restore, enhance, and protect the tree canopy of the nation’s capital.” Since our official establishment in 2002, we approach fulfilling our mission in numerous ways. For example, we plant trees, engage thousands of volunteers of all ages in tree planting and care, provide year-round continuing education courses, monitor the city’s tree canopy, develop interactive online tree tools and work with elected officials, developers, and community groups to protect and care for existing trees and to encourage the addition of new ones. Casey Trees has diligently worked towards attaining the Washington DC’s goal of 40 percent canopy by 2032; planted over 30,000 trees; educated thousands of residents about the importance of urban tree canopy; supported the tree planting efforts of the DC Government, the National Parks Service, community groups and residents alike; inventoried and tracked the District’s tree resources to promote continued public funding for DC’s trees; advocated for green, tree-friendly development and similar pursuits. While the activities vary, all our programs work together to provide greater shade, cooler air, cleaner water, citizen engagement, and sustainable growth to the neighborhoods where we live and work. We are undoubtedly the only urban forestry nonprofit retreeing the District, and we’re lucky to be headquartered in beautiful Brookland in Northeast DC. The people who execute our mission are in the District, but where do the trees come from? We are extraordinarily proud to finally say that the majority of the new trees planted throughout the District are from the Casey Tree Farm in Berryville, Virginia! Casey Tree Farm is a 730-acre tract located in Clarke County, Virginia. Locally known as Springsbury Farm, our organization was gifted the land and its structures in 2008 to enhance our mission through research, collaboration, and environmental stewardship. We have dedicated 100 acres of that land to sustainable tree production using techniques that prioritize long-term
14 • VNLA News • Summer 2021
soil health and productivity while safeguarding the overall environment. In March 2011, we started our nursery, allowing us to grow tree species that are not readily available commercially while applying innovative growing and irrigating techniques. Our vision is to produce sustainably grown, high-quality trees to help communities meet their tree canopy goals. The farm has allowed Casey Trees to plant more trees than in the past when plants were simply bought from other tree farms, but more than that, it gives the organization increased flexibility in choosing the type, quantity, quality, and timing of trees for its needs. We focus on the species needed most, urban-friendly trees like red maple, swamp white oak, black gum, sweetbay magnolia, and American beech. We also grow underused but lovely native trees such as the scarlet and overcup oaks, the Kentucky coffee tree, and the American hornbeam and hophornbeam. Our Farm team works hard to raise roughly 12,000 trees from sapling to sturdy transplant. More than 3,000 are ready for planting each year when they make the 65-mile journey east for a new life in city parks, schools, neighborhoods, and other places in all eight wards of DC. So that is where the trees come from, but how do we plant over 5,000 trees a year with a Tree Operations crew of just 15 people? We involve the community! Since they’re the ones that will ultimately care for and enjoy the trees, getting neighbors, church groups, families, businesses, and everyone in between involved at the start is crucial. Our volunteers and community are the backbones of what we do. Our flagship Community Tree Planting program brings trees to where they are actively needed and wanted. We take great joy in working with community organizers to plant trees to make their neighborhoods more welcoming — and help them address concerns unique to their sites such as flooding, noise pollution, and lack of shade. But restoring, enhancing, and protecting a city’s city tree canopy is much more than planting. We also work with community members and city partners to inventory every tree in the city through our Park Inventory Program. Our volunteer and trained citizen sciences are critical parts of collecting all kinds of data and information about our city’s trees. We use all this gathered information to manage our community forest and prioritize tree maintenance needs.