MD Forestry Service offering free trees to local homeowners

Calling all homeowners who have a stream, ditch, or pond in their backyard, free trees could be on the way.

Maryland's Department of Natural Resources and Forest Service are giving away free trees to homeowners in Wicomico and Dorchester County.

It's all a part of their Backyard Buffer program, a program designed to give land owners who have any waterway on their land to receive free trees to plant.

The goal is to better our local water quality and if you don't think one backyard will make a difference think again.

For the past seven years, the Forestry Service has planted over 25,000 trees just in Wicomico County alone, helping with erosion.

"The idea is to get a small forest established so that we can slow down the erosion and nutrient run off during large rain events because the entire county drains into the bay," explains Matthew Hurd, Project Forester for Maryland Forest Service, Wicomico County.

Now this is a first come, first serve basis, so if you're interested you should call Maryland Forest Service at 410-543-1950.

They will only be offering the free trees through April 20th. If interested you could be getting 25 trees, five different species and sizes but all do well near water.