JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Members from the 633rd Civil Engineer Squadron environmental team along with Joint Base Langley-Eustis leadership broke ground and planted a tree in honor of Arbor Day, April 23, 2021 at the Bateman Library on JBLE, Virginia.
First celebrated in April, 1872, Arbor Day has expanded to an annual celebration recognized by all 50 states and many countries around the world.
“I always enjoy coming out and working with the different JBLE organizations who help emphasize the importance of our environment and conservation efforts,” said U.S. Army COL Edward Vedder, JBLE Installation vice commander. “We value being a part of this community and believe it is important to make sure that we leave a lasting legacy of being good stewards of the environment.”
JBLE also celebrated 21 years of Tree City USA status in the month of April. To qualify as a Tree City USA community, JBLE had to meet four standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters. The standards include having a tree board or department who is responsible for the care of the trees, a tree care ordinance to provide clear guidance on maintaining the trees, an Arbor Day observance and proclamation and lastly, a Community Forestry Program with an annual budget of at least 2 dollars per capita.
“Though the Arbor Day requirement for tree plantings was waived in 2020, we completed our annual Arbor Day tree plantings during the height of COVID-19 restrictions,” said Alicia Garcia, 633rd CES installation management flight-environmental element natural resources program manager. “This tree planting occurred without any fanfare, but the four trees we planted beautified an unsightly area near the historic officers club.”
Having a variety of trees benefits JBLE by reducing water runoff, improving the quality of the air and regulating temperatures. Even in the midst of challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the environmental team still manages urban forest areas on base and preserves rare trees that call JBLE home.
According to Garcia, the environmental team worked with the Virginia Department of Forestry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify an invasive insect in Ash trees around Big Bethel Reservoir. Because of the historical significance of the area, the 633rd CES and various agencies consequently developed a strategy to preserve the genetic diversity of the pumpkin ash through the process of seed banking.
“By planting native species around our homes, we have an opportunity to better coexist with important insect and bird species by simply putting back a little of the plant diversity native to an area,” said Garcia.