The 22nd annual Branches and Banks community tree planting event is beautifying Cochrane once again this May, and looking for all the volunteer help it can get.
“We would like to see as much of the town as we can come out and get their hands dirty,” said Kathleen LaPlante, volunteer organizer for Branches and Banks.
The event will take place May 27 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the confluence of the Bow River and Jumping Bound Creek in the Bow Meadows community.
“It’s much more than a tree plant, it’s about families, individuals, groups, and schools learning about environmental volunteering,” said Robyn Usher, another volunteer organizer.
Usher, who is also a member of the Cochrane Planning Commission, presented to her fellow commission members April 19 on the upcoming event with the hopes to get the word out there and add to the volunteer list.
She presented again to town council on Monday, receiving favourable comments from council members.
The morning kicks off with a small breakfast and will feature live music from Bragg Creek musician Emmett Jerome before closing the afternoon with a barbecue lunch.
The event will also have environmental educators on deck to take people along the riverside and teach them about the different vegetation and foliage in the area.
“There are quite a few environmental groups in this area who know a lot about the habitat, the vegetation and the ecosystem,” said Usher.
The primary focus this year is tending and fortifying the river’s riparian areas - the zones of plant life that grow alongside the banks of the streams and creeks.
“When you have a flood, it’s those trees, shrubs and grasses that break the flow of the water,” said Usher.
“It’s so important to preserve,” said LaPlante.
Twelve students from Cochrane High School will be planting shrubs in the wetlands behind Cochrane Toyota, which will be supporting the event by providing a space for shrubs to be stored overnight.
As a subsidiary division of the Cochrane Environmental Action Committee (CEAC), Branches and Banks is an environmental enhancement group that started in 1996, and has now planted more than 35,000 trees with the help roughly 3,000 volunteers over the past 20 years.
“There are parents now who were involved in the planting program 20 years ago and they still go to visit their tree that they planted as a kid,” said Usher.
The Town of Cochrane Parks and Open Spaces department will be co-sponsoring the event along with CEAC.
“To have that kind of support from the town is instrumental in the success of the event,” said Usher.
Classes from the Manachaban Middle School will also be participating in the tree planting on the Friday before, on May 26.
Posters will be placed throughout town at schools, parks, and recreational facilities, with the organization anticipating to plant another 750 trees if they can meet their goal of at least 100 volunteers for the day.
“We’re trying to reinvigorate the event now that Cochrane has grown so much,” said Usher.
Registration for the event will be available on the CEAC Facebook page.
