2024 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 17
RESILIENCY & SUSTAINABILITY
RESILIENCE AUTHORITY PLANTS
NATIVE SEEDLINGS AT THOMAS
STONE HIGH SCHOOL
On December 7, 2024, the Charles County Resilience
Authority held a tree-planting event at Thomas Stone
High School to plant 481 native seedlings. The planting operation occurred at Thomas Stone High School,
identified as an Overburdened and Underserved Area
by the 2021 Tree Solutions Now Act.
"Thomas Stone is in an Urban Heat Island, and trees
help us adapt to increasing temperatures by providing cooling benefits with shade and reducing both air
and surface temperatures; these newly planted trees
will contribute to energy conservation and improve air
quality while storing carbon dioxide, a primary driver
of climate change," Stacy Schaefer, Executive Director
of the Resilience Authority of Charles County, said.
Volunteers included students and young adults from
the Resilience Authority Youth Corps, a group hosted
by the Student Conservation Association; the group
offers a range of environmental programs to give students hands-on experience in conservation fields such
as urban sustainability, historical preservation, wildlife,
and more.
601 NATIVE &
BIODIVERSE TREES
PLANTED AND
MAINTAINED
INLAND URBAN HEAT ISLANDS
Increasing temperatures from climate change affect
ever yone, and communities in urban heat islands
(areas characterized by more heat-absorbing buildings and pavements and fewer cool spaces with trees
and greenery) are more likely to experience heat-related illnesses and mortalit y, with related negative
effects including poor air quality and a higher air conditioning cost burden. Urban heat islands are caused
by the uneven, inequitable spread of land covers in
the urban landscape, leading to more heat-absorbing
buildings and pavements and fewer cool spaces with
trees and greenery.
Project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) under assistance agreement C2-96389001 to Maryland
Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and/or C2-95306601 to Maryland
Department of Environment (MDE). Contents of this document do not necessarily
reflect the views and policies of the EPA, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or
recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.
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Charles County Government Annual Report • 2024
As part of Maryland’s Five Million Trees (5MT)
ef fort, the Resilience Authorit y secured funding to
plant 600+ biodiverse trees native to the coastal plain
of Maryland at nine Charles County Public Schools
and a County Senior and Recreation Center – all which
ser ve overburdened communities, and all in heat
islands. Planting trees is not enough – the trees must
be watered and maintained to ensure sur vivabilit y
and to provide the associated benefits of community
adaptation to the ef fects of climate change. From
Maryland Forest Service’s Community Catalyst Fund,
the Resilience Authority received over $200,000 in
2024 to not only plant native trees, but to provide the
necessary watering and maintenance of these trees.
