School to Receive Donation of 600 Trees for Arbor Day

COURT HOUSE — Middle Township will celebrate Arbor Day on April 24 in grand style as a local elementary school accepts over 600 tree seedlings that will be distributed to students and faculty. The donation of the seedlings is being made by the Lomax Consulting Group of Cape May Court House. This is the third consecutive year that the Township has partnered with the Lomax Consulting Group for a tree seedling distribution.
“We are thrilled that the donation of these tree seedlings will involve elementary school students in our community,” said Middle Township Deputy Mayor Dan Lockwood. “Environmental awareness always starts at a young age, and this donation by the Lomax Consulting Group will go a long way towards educating our children about the integration of trees into our Township’s ecosystem.”
Douglas Penkethman, the principal of Middle Township Elementary School #2, has coordinated the tree seedling distribution with the Lomax Consulting Group. Seedlings will be distributed to every student and faculty member at the school at 10:30 a.m. The seedlings will be taken home with the intent of planting the seedlings later in the day. Deputy Mayor Lockwood and Peter Lomax from the Lomax Consulting Group will have the seedlings on carts and will visit classrooms for distribution.
Three types of seedlings will be distributed to the students and staff at the school: Eastern White Pine, Norway Spruce, and Douglas Fir. The seedlings come at no cost to the school or Township.
“Middle Township has made it a priority to engage our students in smart priority practices, and this Arbor Day initiative does just that,” Deputy Mayor Lockwood said. “This event is also consistent with the Township’s efforts to draft revisions our Community Forestry Management Plan, which encourages members of the public to plant trees in their neighborhoods.”
Middle Township has two important forestry projects underway. The first project includes the revisions to the Community Forestry Management Plan that was drafted in 2010; revisions will incorporate recommendations and strategies to replace some of the trees that were removed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority prior to the construction of three new overpasses in Middle Township.
The second project is a result of a No Net Loss grant secured by Middle Township. This will fund the acquisition of 1,275 additional trees for community. Combined with the 600 seedlings distributed on Arbor Day, this will result in nearly 1,900 new trees for the Township.