Ironwood sapling planted by Roots for Rivers on site of former incinerator near Summit Transfer Station.

Planting trees is an exercise in patience, commitment, and faith that present-day actions will pay off decades from now for generations not yet born. For tree-planting organizations in New Jersey, complications and restrictions due to COVID-19 tested that patience during the spring of 2020.

"The sense of caring and community around the stewardship of nature starts immediately," said Bill Haskins, Chair of the South Orange Environmental Commission in an interview, referring to how soon the benefits of tree-planting projects become evident. Unfortunately for some tree-planting projects, those benefits had to be put on hold this season.

Lisa Simms, Director of NJ Tree Foundation, is typically busy all spring and summer with tree planting and maintenance programs starting up. But many volunteer-based operations have been suspended.

"There's passion involved with our work," said Simms. "The passion is being in the field, planting the trees, and being in the communities. When you take the passion away, there's definitely some floundering."

Green Streets is one of NJTF's central programs. The program employs formerly incarcerated individuals to plant and maintain street trees in Camden, Jersey City, and other urban areas, helping participants build up skills and gain valuable work experience. Green Streets is also one of NJTF's primary sources of revenue.

According to Simms, despite Green Streets' cancellation, NJFT has benefitted from "overwhelming support" from funders during the pandemic. NJTF also received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, as part of the CARES Act stimulus. So the organization can now employ two Green Streets participants to help maintain NJTF's 9/11 Grove of Remembrance, a 10-acre memorial with 750 trees in Liberty State Park.

TAKING ROOT

Elsewhere in New Jersey, tree-planting efforts were able to continue almost unabated by the pandemic thanks to a smaller team size, which makes social distancing easier. In Summit, a group of 3 volunteers spent weekend mornings planting trees at three different sites—The Summit Transfer Station near New Providence Road, the Department of Public Works along Chatham Road, and the municipal golf course on River Road.

The team's project is part of a larger reforestation effort called Roots for Rivers, which seeks to improve freshwater resources by planting native forests near rivers. Summit resident Marian Glenn, who heads the Summit Roots for Rivers team, developed a pandemic-safe protocol involving social distancing and face masks to carry on with tree-planting.

Marian Glenn (far right) and fellow members of Summit’s Roots for Rivers team pause for a photo.

Roots for Rivers received grant funding from The Watershed Institute in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and Sustainable Jersey. The grant money covers the purchase of trees (native tree saplings for municipal use are available at nurseries such as Pinelands Nursery in Columbus, NJ) but not the labor, which volunteers provide. This year, grant recipients had the choice to wait until the fall to plant their trees due to COVID-19, but to Glenn, it was important to get the trees in the ground in the spring so they could establish roots over the summer.

The Transfer Station planting site lies along the Passaic River on the grounds of a former incinerator. Due to years of incinerating waste, ash has settled into the soil, which erodes into the river, polluting it. Establishing tree roots by reforesting the area could help prevent pollution from erosion and eventually transform the soil into healthier organic matter.

NATIVE VS. INVASIVE PLANTS

Glenn's team planted 12 different types of trees, including the American Persimmon, Ironwood, and the Swamp White Oak. All of the 40 trees planted are species native to New Jersey. Native plants are plant species that grow naturally in a region and are suited to the climate. They benefit the local ecosystem by supporting food webs for local animal species to a far greater extent than non-native species likely planted for decorative or ornamental reasons.

"Oak trees can support over 500 species of butterfly and moth caterpillars in Northern New Jersey, while a decorative invasive may support a few or none," said Bill Haskins via email. Haskin's work on the South Orange Environmental Commission also involves a Roots for Rivers project. "Birds [and] other creatures depend heavily on caterpillars to feed their young," he continued. "If you have an Oak tree in front of your house, you have great bird habitat. If you have a decorative invasive tree in front of your house, not so much."

When planting, volunteers protect the saplings from deer and other hungry animals by placing metal netting or plastic tubes around the small trees. The plastic tubes let in the sun's rays and encourage the tree to grow upright. When the tree grows to a certain size, it breaks free of the perforated tube and will continue growing without much more support.

Native plants fit in symbiotically with the local ecosystem, establishing roots easily with minimal fertilizer or irrigation necessary, said Haskins. In addition to benefitting the local environment, these qualities of native plants make for cheaper, more accessible tree-planting efforts.

THE COOLING EFFECT OF TREES

In addition to their impact on ecosystems and pollution-preventing roots, a crucial benefit of trees, especially in densely populated areas like New Jersey, is the relief they can offer from the summer heat.

Trees have a general cooling effect on cities by providing shade over impervious surfaces (roads and sidewalks) that would otherwise absorb and trap heat. Trees also release water into the air from leaves, in a cooling process called transpiration. According to a 2019 study, "the right amount of tree cover can lower summer daytime temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit," reported Science Daily.

This cooling effect can mitigate high summer temperatures in cities, known as the Urban Heat Island effect. "I said, 'we're going to plant trees where they're needed most, in our cities,'" said Simms of the founding of NJTF nearly 20 years ago. "There's no shade in our cities. It's hot as hell in our cities," she added.

More city trees can also improve air quality, as trees absorb carbon dioxide and add more oxygen to the air. Trees can also filter out particulate matter that pollutes the air, making it healthier for humans to breathe.

Despite the challenges faced by New Jersey's tree planters this season, each group remains committed to providing the wide-ranging benefits offered by their programs for the environment and community. "We know in our hearts that tree-planting is essential," said Simms.

Getting to the root: New Jersey's tree-planting efforts navigate COVID-19