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Volunteer with The Nature Conservancy

Red Spruce Planting at The Glades

Two people load red spruce seedlings into a bag to be planted.
Red spruce planting Volunteers help plant red spruce at Cranesville Swamp Preserve © TNC/Matt Kane
Event Overview

Join the Maryland/DC chapter of The Nature Conservancy for an annual tradition—planting red spruce at one of our preserves in western MD. This year is the 30th Anniversary of our tree plantings, so we are returning to the site of our first tree planting, The Glades Preserve. The Glades, a 600-acre preserve a few miles northeast of Deep Creek Lake, is one of five mountain peatland preserves owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy in western Maryland.  A relic of the last Ice Age, it is the largest mountain peatland in the state.  Over a dozen rare and uncommon plant and animal species live in this habitat, as well as some more common wildlife species such as turkey, bobcat, and black bear. 

This is a two-day event taking place on:

  • Friday, April 24 from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
  • Saturday, April 25, from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Volunteers may sign up for one or both days. Need overnight accommodations? Visit the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce website to help plan your stay in Western Maryland.

Red Spruce Planting in western Maryland

Planting Red Spruce Conservation ecologist Deborah Landau lays out red spruce seedlings for planting at Cranesville Swamp Preserve. © Severn Smith / The Nature Conservancy
Smiles for red spruce Katy Shallows, forest restoration manager for TNC’s Appalachians Program, smiles for the camera while planting red spruce trees. © Understory Media
Little Lorax MD/DC Director of Marketing Sev Smith gets a helping hand from daughter Charleigh during red spruce planting at Cranesville Swamp Preserve. © The Nature Conservancy
Red Spruce Conservation Forester Tal Jacobs led a recent project in the Clinch to plant 25,000 red spruce seedlings spanning across a TNC easement and state wildlife management area. © Kyle LaFerriere Photography

Red spruce (Picea rubens) once covered thousands of acres in western Maryland. Logging and subsequent wildfires at the turn of the 20th century drastically reduced its range. It's estimated that in the Central Appalachians, as much as 90% of the original red spruce forest is now gone.

You can help us change that statistic and make a difference—one seedling at a time!

Your efforts will improve habitat quality for rare plants and animals, restore carbon-rich soils and improve hydrology and local climate, reducing erosion and increasing percolation of water into the underlying bedrock. It's a pretty good payoff for a spring day spent in a beautiful place!

Notes to keep in mind:

  • There are no facilities at the planting site, but we will have portable toilets.
  • We recommend packing water and a lunch.
  • Please dress in layers and be ready for rain, snow and/or sun. The weather is extremely variable in this region.
  • Wear sturdy shoes/hiking boots that you don't mind getting wet. We'll be planting in a wetland.
  • Pack dry socks/a change of clothes for the ride home-you won't regret it!