Eastern Ontario conservation authority's free tree giveaway planned for Saturday in Cornwall, Ont.

CORNWALL, ONT. -

The Raisin Region Conservation Authority (RRCA) is preparing for its 23rd annual tree giveaway in Cornwall, Ont. this weekend, coinciding with that city's Eco-Day events. 

"It's something we've been offering to the residents in our municipalities since the year 2000," says Vincent Pilon, RRCA's Public Information Coordinator. "We've given out almost 46 thousand trees to date."

Five hundred white cedar and white spruce saplings will be up for grabs for Cornwall residents on a first come first serve basis in Lamoureax Park between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

"Residents will be able to show up at the RRCA booth, they'll be able to claim bundles of one or five trees of their choice, but we are also going to be testing their forestry knowledge with a tree-themed trivia game," added Pilon. 

"Planting trees is a very important part of the RRCA's mission to protect, enhance and restore our local environment," he noted. "We are holding an event in all five of our member municipalities so Cornwall is the first one."

Jessica Herrington (left) and Vincent Pilon from the Raisin Region Conservation Authority preparing the booth for the 23rd annual tree giveaway in Cornwall, Ont. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

RRCA staff are planning to plant around 57,000 trees on public and private properties in 2022. Since 1994, more than one million trees have been planted around Cornwall and surrounding areas of SD&G Counties. 

"Our forestry programs are designed to really do two things, increase the forest cover in our watershed jurisdiction, and we also want to make it easy for landowners to add trees to their properties," Pilon said. 

Jessica Herrington, RRCA Stewardship Coordinator says adding trees to your property offers many different benefits.

"These native species are great options for landowners who are interested in creating visual barriers, protecting their property against wind and also increasing their property value," Herrington said. 

Other benefits include mitigating natural disasters such as flooding, preventing erosion, and filtering the water in the watershed, able to trap sediments and contaminants.

"There are also significant benefits to planting trees in an urban setting whether you are looking to attract wildlife or save on energy costs," Pilon added. "Trees will also improve your property value."

The Raisin Regional Conservation Authority headquarters with the one millionth tree planted out front. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Herrington says planting trees is easy and only takes a few minutes, offering up a few quick tips for those looking to add seedlings on their property. 

"Remember to protect the seedling roots from prevailing wind ideally and you'll want to put them in some water," she noted. "If their roots are particularly dry, put them in for 10 minutes to a half hour just so that their roots have the chance to absorb some of that moisture."

"You'll want to plant the tree to the depth of one inch on top of where the roots are at this basal notch area, and wherever you plant, it's best to put the roots straight down and not for it to 'J' and the roots are going to do a lot better," Herrington said. 

Pilon notes that the RRCA is currently doing on-site visits for their full-service planting program. 

"Landowners interested in planting 500 plus trees are able to access free site consultation where we will develop a site plan, look at the planting conditions, work with the landowner to accomplish their tree planting vision," he said. 

"Landowners who take part in this program may qualify for significant subsidies through forest Ontario's 50 million tree program, so it's really designed to try to get as many trees in the ground as possible and make them easy for people to do so," Pilon added.

Surrounding municipalities are also offering up free trees, with South Glengarry's happening in early May. People can also reserve trees online, again on a first-come first-serve basis.

"A survey that was conducted in the city of Cornwall last year, the number one concern that residents had when it came to climate change was deforestation," Pilon said. "Clearly, there is a lot of enthusiasm for adding trees whether it's in the city of Cornwall through the giveaway we are doing on Saturday or through the rest of our forestry programs."

"Every single tree helps contribute to our area's tree canopy and has a host of environmental and many other benefits so we definitely encourage people to get some trees in the ground," Pilon said. 

For those who live outside of the RRCA area, Pilon says to check in with your local conservation authority to see what forestry and tree giveaways might be offered.

"We have landowners coming out year after year and we've been doing this for over 20 years now so we have great success with," added Herrington.