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Girl Scouts to plant 100 trees
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Girl Scouts from Woodland Hills and Penn Hills will plant 100 trees in Frick Park to mark the 100th anniversary of the organization.
The Nine Mile Run Watershed Association is assisting with the planting because the watershed lies in Penn Hills, the Woodland Hills School District and parts of Pittsburgh.
Monique Powell, assistant troop leader and co-manager of the Woodland Hills unit, said the plantings are the "environmental piece" of many community service events this year to mark the anniversary. She said the trees will be planted October or early November.
Alicia Donner of the watershed association said it is providing a small amount of trees left over from earlier events. The bulk of the trees will be planted using a method called "live staking" -- willow tree branches about 18 to 24 inches long and at least three-eighths of an inch in diameter will be stripped of leaves and planted, Ms. Donner said. Willows grow easily and love water, so the branches will be planted along the banks of the stream that runs through Frick Park. Eventually, the branches will grow into trees and help to discourage erosion.
Anne Carney, resources and troop pathway manager for the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania, said Ms. Powell was inspired after the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania distributed more than 3,000 trees to be planted throughout the region in honor of the Scouts' 100th anniversary.
Ms. Carney said Scouts are to plant more than 10,000 trees throughout Pennsylvania this year. She said the trees planted in Frick Park will likely be pines, willows, American hornbeams, swamp white oaks and eastern hemlocks.
Earlier in the year, the nearly 500 Scouts from the Woodland Hills and Penn Hills units collected reusable bags and nonperishable goods for local food banks, donated toiletries to women's centers and men's shelters, and collected school supplies for Woodland Hills students.
To donate toward trees or planting supplies, call Ms. Carney at 412-594-2249 or Ms. Powell at 412-728-0699.
First Published September 27, 2012 5:20 am
