Metro, Casey Trees plant dozens of new trees at Suitland, Southern Ave Metro Stations

Metro and the urban forestry nonprofit Casey Trees have partnered to plant more than 150 new trees at the Suitland and Southern Avenue Metro stations during October and November.

On Saturday, 25 Metro employees, 25 community members, and Prince George's County Council Member Krystal Oriadha volunteered their time to plant trees at Suitland Ave. Station. Trees were planted throughout the station and parking garage area including along the previously treeless sidewalk along Spring Hill Road and a pedestrian path near Suitland Parkway.

Planting trees provides many benefits, including improv ing air quality, improv ing mental and physical health, shading and air cooling, re ducing stormwater runoff, biodiversity and ecological health, and helping to mitigate climate change.

For Metro customers, these trees also improve aesthetics and translate to a more comfortable, enjoyable, and healthy transit experience. This summer, the region saw record-breaking temperatures and the number of annual high heat days are expected to increase in the future, making planting trees increasingly important for providing shading and air cooling to customers and employees at Metro stations.

"I want to thank Casey Trees for planting these trees at Metro stations where they are needed. I also want to thank our Metro employees, community members, and elected officials for taking time out of their busy lives to help plant the trees," said Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke. "Metrorail and Metrobus are already the greenest modes of transportation and adding more trees to our stations improve the quality of life for customers and helps the environment."

Earlier this fall, Metro entered a partnership with Casey Trees to identify Metro stations where tree planting would be both beneficial and logistically feasible. Over the course of the next 2 years, this partnership will result in approximately 450 native trees planted at nine Metro stations located in underserved communities. These nine stations are: Landover, Capital Heights, Addison Road, Southern Ave, Suitland, West Hyattsville, Hyattsville Crossing, Greenbelt, and Twinbrook.

The Suitland and Southern Avenue stations were the first Metro stations to receive trees through this program. At Southern Avenue station, the Casey Trees forestry crew planted over 80 native trees (including Birches, Pines, and "October Glory" Maples) . At Suitland station, 50 community volunteers helped the Casey Trees forestry crew plant over 100 native trees ( including Hollies, Pines, and "Autumn Blaze" Maples.) .

Additional tree plantings will take place in the spring and fall of 2025.

This project was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program, which provides funding for tree-focused projects in underserved communities. In September 2023, Casey Trees received a grant award of $9.1 million, which will support efforts to plant 10,000 trees (including the 450 at Metro stations), maintain 30,000 young trees, and sponsor tree plantings at 75 local schools.

Learn more about Metro's sustainability initiatives.

About Casey Trees

Casey Trees is a nonprofit dedicated to restoring, enhancing, and protecting the tree canopy of the nation's capitol region. Founded in 2001, Casey Trees plants over 7,000 trees per year, engages with thousands of volunteers, educates youth in local schools on the importance of environmental stewardship, promotes and advocates for policies that support urban forestry and environmental sustainability, and acts as DC's only land conservation trust. Through these efforts, Casey Trees aims to help DC achieve the city's 40% tree canopy goal by 2032. We invite everyone to join us in our mission to create greener, healthier communities for all. Find out more at caseytrees.org.

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