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Sparta High School Science Students Plant Trees Along Wallkill River

325 ecology and environmental science students from Sparta High School recently helped the Wallkill River Watershed Management Group plant 5,000 native trees and shrubs along the Wallkill River in Sparta Township. The trees were funded by the Arbor Day Foundation and are part of a larger reforestation effort along the Wallkill River.

The planting took place in a mowed plot of invasive phragmites. The Wallkill River Watershed Management Group is conducting an experiment with the students and teachers at the school to test the feasibility of planting trees within former phragmites pockets. Students will be returning to the site seasonally to track the survivability of the plants. If successful, the Wallkill River Watershed Management Group hopes to replicate this project in other parts of the county that are currently invaded with phragmites.