ISSUED: 22 March 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Members of the public are invited to help the Shepherd Environmental Organization (SEO) plant trees on Saturday, April 1, beginning at 10 a.m. near the soccer field on Shepherd University’s West Campus. The group plans to plant 24 evergreens that will provide a buffer between the campus and the Maddox Farm subdivision.
Brady Burker, an environmental studies major from Sharpsburg, Maryland, and SEO president, said the trees and technical assistance in planting them will come from the Cacapon Institute’s CommuniTree program. Volunteers from the campus and community will plant a mix of conifers, white pines, red spruce, Fraser fir, loblolly pine, Virginia pine, and pitch pine.
“I like planting trees because I feel like it’s a real concrete way to improve the future,” Burker said. “We try to put them in a location where they will survive in the long term. Its nice to know that in 60 years, maybe when I’m gray, these trees will exist and doing a little bit of good in the world.”
Burker said volunteers will not only gain a good feeling knowing they helped out, they will also learn the best way to plant a tree which is a skill they can use at home.
For more information, contact Dr. Mark Lesser, assistant professor of biology, at mlesser@shepherd.edu.
— 30 —