Mahan Rykiel Aids the Chesapeake Bay

Mahan Rykiel Associates conducted reviews of site assessments for numerous state corridors and parcels, which led to the current reforestation concept plans that include trees ranging from four feet in height up to 12 feet in height.
Mahan Rykiel Associates Inc.

In compliance with the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) is planting over 81,420 trees in more than 280 locations that have been designed by Mahan Rykiel, a Baltimore based landscape architecture firm.

TMDL is a ''pollution diet'' for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which includes six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia), as well as the District of Columbia. The initiative was designed to reduce the amount of sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus and other micro-scale pollutants entering the waterways that flow to the Bay.

Shortly thereafter Mahan Rykiel partnered with the SHA's office of environmental design and created a reforestation plan. Ken Schmidt, principal at Mahan Rykiel, said ''This is the responsible thing to do. The tree plantings serve more than double duty by not only mitigating pollutants in stormwater, but by helping to reduce urban heat islands and filter carbon monoxide (CO2) out of the air that we breathe. We are proud to be a part of the state's investment in protecting natural resources.''

Although many of these sites have now been planted the program will continue for the next several years. For more information about the TMDL program please visit epa.gov.