Reposted from PA Environmental Digest Blog posted 15 November 2025
The North Branch Land Trust used a 2025 Healing the Planet grant from The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to plant trees in its 17 acre Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary in Dallas Borough, Luzerne County.
The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful awarded nearly $120,000 in support of 37 projects focused on tree planting projects across Pennsylvania.
Native trees play a critical role in protecting local ecosystems. They support wildlife, reduce erosion, and require less maintenance to thrive.
Tree planting efforts also help improve the appearance and safety of our communities, which can support long-term economic development.
The grant to North Branch Land Trust was the only money awarded to an organization in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
On Oct 18, staff and volunteers for the conservation group planted more than 100 trees in the sanctuary including basswood, black gum, cottonwood, serviceberry, sumac, sycamore and tulip poplar.
“We selected those species to increase diversity in the already diverse 17 acre sanctuary,” said Emma Thompson, Senior Director of Conservation & Operations for NBLT. “We introduced new but suitable species to encourage an understory that is currently full of low growing and shrubby species. We are working to increase forest regeneration for future generations and creating diversity is an excellent tool for a resilient forest with an unknown future of pests and diseases that might plague it.”
Forest Echo Sanctuary is on West Center Hill Road in Dallas Borough and features a 0.6 mile loop trail through a forest with songbirds, small mammals and whitetail deer. It is open from dusk to dawn.
North Branch Land Trust partners with landowners, communities, and stakeholders and has conserved more than 25,000 acres in Bradford, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties. It also owns several preserves, including Forest Echo.
Since 2021, the Healing the Planet grant program has awarded over $1.3 million to 178 recipients, empowering projects that connect communities with green spaces, protect and improve local waterways and water resources, prevent, reduce, and recover food waste, and support native tree planting and habitat restoration.
“Native trees play a critical role in protecting local ecosystems,” said Heidi Pedicone, director of programs at Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “They support wildlife, reduce erosion, and require less maintenance to thrive. Each grant recipient is making a lasting impact in their community, from restoring green spaces to protecting water resources across Pennsylvania. We’re proud to invest in these initiatives and are grateful for our partnership with The GIANT Company.”
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has supported community improvement initiatives and encouraged community leadership, responsibility, and respect for the environment since 1990.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, a state affiliate of Keep American Beautiful, Inc. has more than 30 years of experience in organizing volunteer-driven community improvement events.
