Panel will offer free seedlings to residents

The East Brunswick Shade Tree Division will distribute free tree seedlings to East Brunswick residents 8 a.m.-1 p.m. April 8 at the East Brunswick Recycling Center, 357 Dunhams Corner Road. The program is part of the New Jersey Tree Recovery Campaign designed to help communities replace trees damaged or destroyed by superstorm Sandy.

Seedlings, which will be available on a first-come basis, will come with instructions for storage, care and planting. Residents should plant the seedlings within two days after pickup in order to prevent the roots from drying out.

The goal of the Tree Recovery Campaign is to distribute more than 500,000 tree seedlings to New Jersey residents over the next five years. The enterprise is a joint effort of East Brunswick, the New Jersey Forest Service, the New Jersey Soil Conservation District, Sustainable Jersey, the Arbor Day Foundation, Brothers International, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Wyndham Vacation Resorts and FedEx.

For a list of distribution locations across the state, log on to www.forestry.nj.gov or www.facebook.com/newjerseyforests.

For more information on the East Brunswick distribution, email Jill Veit at [email protected].