STRUTHERS Trees benefit property along streams

Stream-side tree plantings reduce soil erosion and filter pollutants.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- For Carolyn Conway, tree-planting along the banks of a small stream is a way to protect her back yard from erosion, attract more wildlife, and improve her environment.
A nature lover, she's planted trees and shrubs along both sides of an unnamed tributary of the Mahoning River that runs through a ravine in the back yard of the one-acre property on Sexton Street, her home for 36 years.
"Instead of it eroding away any more than what it has, it will hold my bank," Conway said of the streambank planting effort. "I love my yard, and I'm tired of the water eroding," she added. "Every inch of land you lose, you lose a little part of your soul," she observed.
The plantings were made through a 3-year-old program administered by the Mahoning County Soil and Water Conservation District under which stream-side landowners in the county are reimbursed with state and county funds for 75 percent of the cost of qualifying trees and shrubs they plant along the streambank.
What she's planted
As a chorus of birds chirped in her yard after a brief rain shower, Conway said she has planted bankers dwarf willow, American sycamore, redosier dogwood, spicebush, tulip poplar and buttonbush on her land along the creek.
"All the trees that we selected for this program are trees that are adapted to areas where they're going to be wet part of the year," said Heather Moser, watershed coordinator for the Canfield-based SWCD.
It's a good idea to plant trees and shrubs along streambanks because they filter pollutants in rainwater runoff; their roots help hold soil and reduce streambank erosion; they provide wildlife with food, shelter and travel corridors; and they shade the water, keeping it cool enough to be habitable for fish and insects, Moser said.
The creek that runs through Conway's land originates in Boardman and runs through the Brownlee Woods section of Youngstown before entering Struthers, where it flows into the Mahoning River.
Conway said erosion of her yard has increased significantly over the years due to residential development upstream from her. About five years ago, a footbridge she had built over the stream was washed away during a heavy rain, she recalled.
Importance
"Urban streams tend to have a lot of erosion issues because the watershed of the stream sheds water so fast. In some ways, stream-side plantings are more important for urban and suburban landowners because urban and suburban landowners tend to end up losing so much yard in storm events," Moser observed.
"When the watershed for a stream is in natural forests and fields, a lot of the water that hits the ground when it rains can soak in." Moser noted.
"Once that watershed is paved and it's houses and roads and parking lots, that water tends to run off a lot more quickly. And the quantity of that water then creates these little flash floods that tear out banks, and people lose chunks of yard," she explained.
The cost share application deadline for this year's stream-side tree planting has passed, but SWCD hopes to offer the program again next year if funds are available, Moser said.
SWCD also provides free advice to landowners on soil and water conservation issues.