Residents in Woodbine Observe Arbor Day with Free Seedlings

WOODBINE – The Borough of Woodbine had a special twist on its annual Arbor day celebration when it served as the Cape May County drop-off site for free tree seedlings to be distributed under the New Jersey Tree Recovery Campaign.
The distribution had drop-off had been originally slated for March 20, but the extended winter conditions caused the trees to be unable to be dug out by the dates anticipated, besides presenting inhospitable conditions for planting once delivered to participating individuals.
Activities began April 15 ( income tax day), when Alec McCartney from DEP’s Community Forestry Program drove 3,300 trees from the State Forest Nursery in Jackson, NJ, down to Woodbine’s Municipal Utilities Authority yard under the water tower, most of the ride in a driving rain.
After a weekend that had reached the 80s, Alec and Woodbine’s Jimmy Gurdgiel unloaded the sacks of seedling in the wet chill of Day 1.
On April 16, Public Works employees from Sea Isle City and Middle Township each picked up their full allotment of 1,000 trees each; West Cape May had a smaller order of 300.
Wednesday was also the first day for Woodbine residents to pick up their trees from the site.
Did we mention it snowed that morning? An icy, slushy snow that coated the bags of seedlings and forced distribution workers indoors between requests from residents arriving at the WMUA building for their five trees per.
Due to the twist in the weather, there are still plenty of trees available for pickup, mainly pitch pine, short leaf pine, willow oak, and black gum.
Trees can be picked up at the Woodbine Municipal Authorities yard, 413 Adams Avenue (under the water tower) Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 am until noon.
If this doesn’t fit your schedule, please call Borough Hall at 861-2153 and leave your number to make other arrangements for pickup.
Seedlings come with instructions on how to store, care for, and plant them. The guides helped residents choose the right place on a property to plant a tree while keeping in mind the tree’s full-grown size in the future.
The goal of the Tree Recovery Campaign is to distribute over 500,000 tree seedlings to New Jersey residents over the course of the next five years. The program was sponsored by the New Jersey State Forestry Services Community Forestry Program, The State Forest Nursery, New Jersey Soil Conservation Districts, Sustainable Jersey, and the Arbor Day Foundation. The Arbor Day Foundation, and BJ’s Wholesale Club and FedEx provide financial support for the program.
“We were honored to be asked to serve as the County drop-off site for this distribution and delighted to have these trees for our residents to plant, making this year’s a very special Arbor Day” quoted Mayor Pikolycky, “I want to thank Alec and all those with the Community Forestry Program for all their hard work on this project and for being such good partners with Woodbine in our tree initiatives. ”