The Carla Hardy West Virginia Project CommuniTree (CTree) is a program engaged in tree planting on public lands throughout the Potomac River Watershed in West Virginia.
Since 2012, CTree has organized 127 tree planting projects, planted 3,870 trees, and engaged over 8,500 volunteers in more than 15,500 hours of stewardship and planting. The program is entirely volunteer based and engages stakeholders in decisions making processes within their communities. In addition to assistance with physical plantings, CTree offers a strong educational message and focuses on enhancing and promoting awareness of watershed and riparian area needs such as storm water management, water quality issues, buffer zone planting, and soil erosion. Although the program tends to focus on urban tree planting, many projects have overlapped with generating riparian forest buffers and have provided similar benefits such as reducing stormwater runoff pollution and improving water quality. The programs most recent buffer projects include River Road Sodbusters 4H Club tree planting on the Potomac River, Blue Ridge Watershed Coalition tree planting along the Shenandoah River, and River Ridge HOA tree planting along the Cacapon River.
To learn more about the Carla Hardy West Virginia Project CommuniTree visit its page on the Cacapon Institute website here.