Hopatcong Environmental Commission delivers 500 Trees to over 100 Residents

It was a perfect sunlit day for the Hopatcong Environmental Commission's sixth annual free tree give-a-way, and they had an excellent turn out.  Just over 100 residents stopped by to make their selections from the trees provided by the NJ Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program. 

Pictures from the Event:

There were 8 interesting varieties of trees this year to choose from:

• Paw Paw
• Shellbark Hickory
• Hackberry
• White Flowering Dogwood
• Kousa Dogwood 
• Cornelian Cherry
• Persimmon
• Willow Oak

The hard-working volunteer team gave out nearly all of the 500 trees. It was not surprising that the most popular were the flowering and fruit bearing varieties led by the Dogwoods. Note: Any leftover trees will be planted in public areas within Hopatcong.

“A big thank you to our Environmental Commission members and volunteers who organized the setting and kept things moving, and to Hopatcong DPW who picked up the trees and made sure we had everything we needed.  But most of all we thank the NJ Forest Service and the NJ Tree Recovery Campaign Partners for providing this popular program to our residents.” Stated Jule Girman

About the Program:

The goal of the Tree Recovery Campaign is to distribute over 700,000 tree seedlings to New Jersey residents over the course of eight years, which was met in 2020. With natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy and the damage caused by several new invasive insects to New Jersey, our state needs more new tree seedlings than ever before.

Therefore, the campaign is moving into its ninth year. The program is a joint effort between the Borough of Hopatcong, NJ Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program, NJ Forest Service Nursery, New Jersey Soil Conservation Districts, Arbor Day Foundation, FedEx and Texpo Energy.

When properly planted and maintained, trees can be assets to a community. They improve the visual appeal of a neighborhood or business district, increase property values, reduce home cooling costs, remove air pollutants, and provide wildlife habitat, among many other benefits.