Pine residents enjoy tree giveaway

Pine residents were able to register to take home free trees to plant on their properties through the township’s Environmental Advisory Council.

The township partnered with Tree Pittsburgh to host a workshop as part of the EAC speaker series on Sept. 26. Township code and planning director Kirsten Primm reported on the workshop’s success during the Oct. 7 board of supervisors meeting.

Attendees joined Tree Pittsburgh for a family-friendly workshop to learn about the benefits of trees, an overview of trees adopted through the free program, proper tree planting methods, and tree care and pruning.

One hundred trees were available, with one tree permitted for each household. Trees available were 2 to 3 years old and came with a deer protection kit.

“What’s really cool about how we purchased those trees is through our subdivision and land development ordinance,” Primm said. “When developers remove trees, they are required to replant them. If they can’t replant them due to site limitations or other issues, they’re required to pay a fee to us. The fees we collected were used to purchase these trees to then give out to residents and have them replanted elsewhere in the township.”

Primm spoke about the positive response to the workshop.

“This is the first time we were able to do a tree giveaway like this, and we got really awesome reviews from attendees, so much so that we will be doing this again for our Earth Day event,” she said.

The next event in the EAC’s environmental speaker series will be an evergreen wreath making workshop on Dec. 10, presented by Pisarcik Flower Farm and sponsored by Bartlett Tree Experts.