Trees — lots of trees, strategically planted — are the best and most cost effective way to clean our waters.

• We help communities protect water quality and restore forests by replanting trees in open fields and on steep slopes along streams (riparian buffers).
• We partner with private landowners, municipalities, volunteers, and others to identify land for reforestation, plan multi-day reforestation events, and steward recently planted areas.
• We also work with municipalities to protect their riparian resources from degradation or loss due to unwise land use practices, and offer a model regulation for use in local regulatory controls.

Contact Grant DeCosta, for more information on our model Riparian Buffer Protection ordinance.

Contact Rob Daniels for more information on our Reforestation initiative.

Riparian Buffer Guide

The protection of forested riparian buffers often depends on local land use regulations. An increasing number of Pennsylvania townships, boroughs, and cities are enacting regulations to require buffer protection and restoration. 

The document below is a how-to guide for the planting and maintenance of forested riparian buffers, the most effective and cost-efficient way to protect water quality. This guide was created to inform each step of the planting project, whether undertaken voluntarily or in accordance with a municipal riparian buffer ordinance. It can also be used in the creation of a planting and maintenance plan for revegetating an impacted riparian buffer, voluntarily or when required by your municipality.