MetroParks of Butler County was founded 70 years ago this June. The agency is marking the occasion by celebrating ongoing reforestation efforts.
"We've planted probably well over 8,000 trees now in different areas," says Joe Dumyahn, senior manager of natural resources.
"The benefit is just the biodiversity support that trees have. They support a lot of different species of insects and animals. There's the carbon sequestration, as well, that's really important. We have a mixture of prairies and grasslands and forests, and it's one component that we want to keep growing. It's even important for recreation [and] for our overall well being — trees in general have a lot of benefits for us," he says.
The bulk of the reforestation work over the past roughly 10 years has taken place at Timberman Ridge MetroPark and its adjoining properties, as well as Meadow Ridge and Sebald parks and the areas connecting the two.
"We're creating a larger, continuous forested area, which has more benefits for some species," Dumyahn explains. "Less fragmentation allows for animal movement; allows for larger home ranges. It buffers against different environmental issues, maybe like a windstorm or something like that that smaller, fragmented forested areas are more susceptible to. A larger area can weather a lot of stuff, so we're planting trees in this area to connect all these areas together."
What kinds of trees are being planted?
The park district is planting a variety of native trees, many from seeds collected in the parks themselves and across Butler County. Dumyahn says this gives the plants a better chance at survival. Some seedlings are raised in park district greenhouses, and some are purchased from wholesalers.
The most prevalent variety of tree being planted is the white oak. Dumyahn calls it a keystone species of tree that benefits all kinds of wildlife.
"I think there's like 500 species of caterpillars alone that rely on the white oak. If you think of the connection between caterpillars and birds and feeding the young, you can see how important it is to a lot of different species. I think there's like 900 different insects just for that one species of tree. [Then] you've got your mammals, your squirrel, your deer, your raccoons, your foxes. You've got other species that benefit from the leaf litter that's created as well. So it's like 100 or 1,000 different species across the food web [that] really benefit from white oaks."
MetroParks does two rounds of planting, one in the spring and one in the fall. The agency relies on teams of volunteers to help get all those seedlings in the ground and behind protective barriers to keep deer and other hungry critters away and give the trees a better chance at survival.
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