Volunteers, TD Bank and RRCA Plant 250 Trees at Gray's Creek Conservation Area

Community members recently joined TD Bank Group and the Raisin Region Conservation Authority (RRCA) to plant 250 native trees and shrubs at Gray's Creek Conservation Area. The saplings will help replace trees downed due to damage or disease at the popular RRCA nature spot in South Glengarry.

"Once again, we are thrilled to work with the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation to host a TD Tree Days event," says RRCA Board of Directors Chair and South Stormont Mayor, Bryan McGillis. "We thank everyone who joined us to enhance this public green space for the benefit of the entire community and local environment."

TD Tree Days Site Leader and local Branch Manager, Mike Duval, says TD has worked with the RRCA to host TD Tree Days events at various locations since 2018. "It is always so rewarding to bring the local community together to plant trees. By growing and enhancing public green spaces like Gray's Creek, TD Tree Days is helping to create a more vibrant planet."

Most of the new trees – a variety of hardy native species like white pine, hemlock, sugar maple, silver maple, basswood, and tamarack – were planted along the Conservation Area's nature trails, where hundreds of trees were removed in 2022 and 2023 because of the invasive emerald ash borer beetle, Dutch elm disease, or severe weather events.

One of the RRCA's three Conservation Areas, Gray's Creek is a hundred-acre public green space with 3.5 kilometres of nature trails. It also features a park and picnic area, a playground, a marina and boat launch, geocaches, an edible forest, and a self-guided arboretum tour.

"This Conservation Area is enjoyed by over 100,000 visitors annually from South Glengarry, Cornwall, and beyond," says South Glengarry Mayor and RRCA Board Member, Lachlan McDonald, who also joined the planting effort. "We thank everyone who made this day possible."

Last year, TD and the RRCA worked with the Township of South Stormont to plant 200 trees at the Arnold Bethune Memorial Park in Long Sault. Over 520,000 trees across Canada and the United States have been planted through TD Tree Days events since 2010. For more information on RRCA Conservation Areas and tree planting programs, visit rrca.on.ca or contact (613) 938-3611 or [email protected]. For TD Tree Days, go to tdtreedays.com.