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ROBBINSVILLE: ‘Mr. Tree’ feted for going the extra Green Mile

By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
   ROBBINSVILLE — Current and future township residents have more than 9,000 reasons to thank Bill Brash.
   That’s the number of new trees taking root at the town’s schools, parks and other public places under an ambitious reforestation program that recently earned Robbinsville the New Jersey Forestry Council’s 2012 Green Community Award.
   Mr. Brash, a certified forester whom Township Engineer Tim McGough joking calls “Mr. Tree,” is the director of the Mercer County Soil Conservation District, which worked closely with Robbinsville staff to come up with the award-winning reforestation plan.
   ”We couldn’t have done it without Bill,” Mr. McGough told the Township Council Jan. 24, moments before the Council President Ron Witt read a proclamation honoring Mr. Brash and township employees who put together the project.
   The reforestation planning began after 115 acres of woodlands in Robbinsville near the New Jersey Turnpike was bulldozed in 2010 to make room for the ongoing highway-widening project. The state’s No Net Loss law requires state agencies to replace trees it cuts down, but since there were only 21 acres of available right-of-way near the Turnpike for 115 acres of replacement trees, most of the trees had to be planted on other public lands within Robbinsville.
   Mr. McGough said 4,000 trees have already been planted as part of Phase I including American elms along the Assunpink Creek, flowering cherry trees along the Town Center lake, and unique species of trees specially chosen to match the characteristics of each of the township’s public schools.
   For example, the Sharon School mascot is the blue jay, so Mr. Brash chose oak trees — including English oak, pin oaks and white swamp oaks — for the grounds at Sharon School because a blue jay’s favorite food is acorns. At Robbinsville High School, where the school colors are red and black, Mr. Brash chose species such as red dogwoods, flowering ruby red horse chestnut trees, red maples and black gum trees, whose leaves turn a brilliant scarlet color in the fall.
   A $999,617 contract, paid for using state funds provided under the No Net Loss law, was awarded in November to low-bidder Trees Now for Phase II of the project, which includes more than 5,700 new trees. These trees will be planted in the spring on public property and homeowners association properties near the turnpike; in neighborhoods where street trees have died; detention basins; and on land between the high school and middle school where a new regional cross-country trail is being created, Mr. McGough said.
   The planned 3.3-mile cross-country course that will loop between Pond Road Middle School and Robbinsville High School will have a canopy of more than 2,000 new trees, including dogwoods, tulip trees, basswood, oaks, maples, elms, horse chestnuts, Colorado spruces, black gum, cypress, magnolia, and river birch trees.
   Also at the high school, more than 100 Colorado spruce trees and emerald arborvitae will help create a windbreak at the tennis courts near Route 526.
   The neighborhoods near the turnpike that will receive more than 2,200 trees to help screen the noise from the turnpike include Allens Road and Olivia Drive; Washington Green; Washington Hunt; and the Woods at Washington.
   Trees will also be planted near Sharon School and Community Park to better screen those properties from the turnpike. In addition, the detention basin at Combs Farm, a pocket park at Hulse Street, an area of Hutchinson Road, and various neighborhoods where street trees have died or been removed for sidewalk replacement projects are also getting trees in Phase II of the reforestation project.