Monday, May 10th UMBC held a forest dedication ceremony with Dr. Hrabowski, along with local political and community leaders.

Speakers included President Hrawbowski, Baltimore County Councilman Tom Quirk, Delegate Steve DeBoy, Delegate James Malone, student representative Jack Nuemeier (The Garden at UMBC). UMBC's architect Joe Rexing, grounds manager Donna Anderson, landscape architect Phil Cho, and sustainability coordinator Tanvi Gadhia along with students Julianna Brightman and Kelsey Donnellan also represented UMBC in receiving the Tree Campus USA award from the Arbor Day Foundation.

Photography by Marlayna Demond.

Below is some of the text from the coverage in the Baltimore Sun.

UMBC has designated 11 acres of forest as a conservation area through Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which protects it from development and requires that trees remain on the land.

Joe Rexing, campus architect, said the conservation area, which is located on the edge of the campus near Wilkens Avenue and Interstate 695, between Poplar Avenue and Center Road on the outer loop of Hilltop Road, is part of a university plan to make the campus more sustainable.

"It provides us with an opportunity to protect, observe and conserve our natural environment," Rexing said the designation will protect Herbert Run, a stream that flows past the campus through Arbutus and is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Such forests are necessary to protect the habitat around the stream, Rexing said.

"It's very much a part of a more comprehensive statewide push to improve Chespeake Bay water quality, "