Liz Kirchner
Deeply concerned by hotter, longer summers in the NRV and disturbances, like deforestation, that are causing global climate-change, a Virginia Tech graduate, Ibrahim Mohamed, 22, has organized The Big Plant, an ambitious effort that aims to plant up to 4000-5000 trees in two days on the Tech campus and in Ellett Valley.
Young people planted hundreds of trees along Stroubles Creek on Virginia Tech campus in the last few years. With help from that effort, to combat climate change, The Big Plant hopes to plant 4000 trees along Stroubles and on a farm in Ellett Valley March 30-31.
Sign-in starts at 10:30 a.m. on March 30 on the Drillfield of VT campus.
Groups will plant at Stroubles Creek and the Paris Mountain Farm (2612 Catawba Rd.), both in Blacksburg.
The two sites offer different planting experiences to people of all ages and skill levels and tools will be supplied.
“Two thousand black willow cuttings will be planted along Strouble’s Creek near Foxridge Apartments. That site is accessible by BT Transit. The Strouble’s Creek site is a good for freshman, people walking from town and people with kids. The planting there is easy. It doesn’t need shovels.”
At the Strouble’s site, black willow cuttings are just stabbed into the stream banks where they will take root in moist soil.
The Paris Farm in Ellet Valley is a fifteen-minute drive from campus. Mohamed recommends carpooling and the pre-registration website helps coordinate cars and riders.
Finishing his finance degree in three years, Mohamed became increasingly aware of the implications of climate change and launched The Big Plant idea.
“I learned how bad climate change is and I remember sitting in my senior finance classes listening to everybody projecting earnings out to 2050 and I was thinking “Do these people have any idea what’s going on?””
Graduating last year, he said he thought he’d see what he could do about climate change awareness. “People have ideas all the time and I thought I’d give it a shot and see how it would go.“
But there were fundamental impasses early on. He knew nothing about trees or how and where to plant them or how to get a lot of people to do it.
To remedy that, he got a job with a Blacksburg tree care company and talked to people who had already planting a large number of trees. He learned about which trees to plant (native species that grow naturally in the region and support local wildlife and insects) and good places to plant them (along stream beds and in fields).
And he allied with like-minded people.
The event is co-hosted by the Environmental Coalition, the Stroubles Creek Coalition, Students for Sustainable Practice, Young Democrats and the Muslim Student Association.
Stadium woods, a last vestige old-growth forest on the Virginia Tech campus is hundreds of years old. The Big Plant hopes to plant trees that will help the planet last as long.
Financial support is coming from Blacksburg businesses and nonprofits like Eats Natural Foods and their customers, Gillie’s, Bollos Cafe, Baseline Solar, the New River Land Trust, the Perspective Gallery and In Balance Yoga allowing the effort to buy native trees and shovels.
He was surprised by the generous support for a first-ever effort, but said he felt people would see its importance.
“I fee like the idea has been so embraced by the community. I thought the idea seemed so marketable. I guess I was surprised because this is the first event. Unprecedented. They ere willing to write me checks for an event that had never happened before and I was the only lead person. Everyone who heard about it said it was great.”
Mohamed sought advice from the university faculty who saw the project as effective in raising climate-change awareness, bringing university and town together in one effort and successfully planting trees.
“I sensed from the beginning that the Big Plant project will be a good way to get many students and faculty involved from a brand-new spectrum of disciplines, and townspeople engaged with a university-based program,” Dr. Tom Hammett Associate Dean for Academic Programs College of Natural Resources and Environment wrote in an email. “I was especially interested in the goals of the project and the way that it was focused only on two sites. This will mean that the efforts put forth by the volunteers will be effective and will benefit the local area well into the future.”
At the Paris Mountain Farm site, groups will plant mixed hardwoods native to the Applachians: chestnut oak, white oak, poplar, black cherry, black locust sugar maple and other large, native species important to water protection and providing wildlife habitat. Paris Mountain Farm is a family farm owned by Betty Hahn.
“I am an environmentalist, and believe that climate change is the critical issue of our time,” Hahn said in an email. “Traditionally, our farm has been a cattle farm with many open pastures. It is beautiful like this, but I often say that if I could snap my fingers to have an Appalachian forest instantly spring up, I would do so immediately.”
Her family tries to plant as many trees as possible every year she said.
“When I was approached by Ibrahim about the Big Plant, I knew right away I wanted to get involved. Here was an opportunity to have numerous trees planted in a short time. It is a great concept and I am happy to support it,” Hahn said.
Four thousand trees is a lot. Asked why so many, Mohamed said he wanted to make it worth the effort and to reflect the urgency of climate change.
“I figured if I were going to devote so much time to do it, and considering the tight time table of climate change, I thought I’d do as much as I could and get it on a scale that would get some attention,” Mohamed said. “It would be cool if we could do something like that in Blacksbug. I didn’t know if we’d get the money or land and I’m getting so much experience from fundraising, buying trees, organizing people and land.”
Mohamed said his family in Herndon was surprised. “They said, “You’re doing what?” Now that the event’s gotten closer and bigger and more legitimate in every way, they are all willing to come down and help out.”
Advising others at universities and in towns who are moved to do their part to tackle climate change in the real world Mohamed advises to think big and thing long-term. And hurry.
“My biggest suggestion is be ambitious. Moving forward, pick a site that can be planted on again and again. Get as much planting done as you can in the first year. Think about where to plant: reforesting local forests or planting trees in resident’s backyards. Time is of the essence,” he said.
The event is hoping for a few hundred people. Signing up at the Drillfield is planned and pre-registration online is an option.
The planting will last all Saturday, March 30, then people can camp out to finish on Sunday, March 31.
Music playing and get a good vibe going while we plant,” Mohamed said. “Then people are invited to camp at New River Junction to keep the vibe going the next day.”
New River Junction (2591 Big Falls Rd) in Blacksburg is a scenic camping and picnic site on the New River, around twenty minutes away from campus.
He hopes the trees will be planted, maintained and the idea of planting trees will not just continue, but flourish.
“I also hope that in coming years, this event will expand, and plant more trees in more places, and spread to other universities. There is no time to waste; we must act now, together – and possibly with music, refreshments and camping as additional perks,” he said.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/thebigplant/ Preregister at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd43l6k4m5kzUVBbcR4SHLtaJgWzPsFS6swYS8iNQ9GHRxriw/viewform